Next Time, Take the Elevator: A Sequel
by Alicia Blade
Summary: Sequel to Next Time, Take the Stairs. It's the eve before Serena and Darien's wedding and they're off to tie up some lose strings. But what's this, the elevator's down? Guess they'll have to use the stairs... Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Next Time Take the Elevator: A Sequel  
Alicia Blade 

... 

**June 2005 ANs:**

Here it is for all you who requested me to re-post this! Hope you enjoy! I didn't really edit it, so my apologies for any grammar mistakes. 

... 

**Some of the original ANs** (man, there were a lot... Have I always been so wordy? Eh...): 

If you haven't read Next Time Take the Stairs, you will want to go do that first, or most of this won't make sense. Likewise, if you haven't read it for a year or more, you may want to go freshen your memory. :shrug: Your choice. And just so you know, this one is also comedy, though there is a LOT more romance. I know it annoyed you when there was so little in the last one. I'll probably never make THAT mistake again. Oro… 

This fanfic includes references to The Slayers and Ranma1/2, two other anime series. So if you haven't seen those shows, you may not understand some of the jokes used. Just smile and nod, it shouldn't affect your understanding of the plot. For future reference: Lina Inverse is the main character from Slayers. The whole animal thing comes from Ranma. Just leave it at that. 

I want to offer unconditional thanks to Stormlight, Joanne Alexandra, My Personal Stalker Jo, Lady C, Lady Starra, SailorM11, and Adrian for their ideas and support. They were angels sent from Heaven during the making of this fanfic. Also, thanks to R-chan, Rebe-chan, Charm, and Neko-chan for the pet names. Arigatou, minna! 

This fanfic received more requests than anything I have ever written. So every single person who ever complained it was taking me too long, or who asked for it to be written, had better write me! I want email! Thanks! 

_"My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God."_  
- Deuteronomy 32:2-3 

Next Time Take the Elevator: A Sequel  
Chapter One

"Oh Raye, I absolutely LOVE it!" squealed Serena, leaning over the coffee table to give her raven-haired friend a hug. Darien looked at the cappuccino maker suspiciously. With all the interesting buttons and shiny metal gadgets… he hoped Serena wouldn't actually expect him to figure out how to work this thing… at least, not any time soon. "I'm sure Muffin can have that thing up and running in a jiffy. Coffee, anyone?" Darien looked up nervously as everyone cheered their praise, eager to try out the tastiest cappuccinos since Starbucks. He groaned and took the orders before disappearing into the adjacent kitchen, the maker in one hand and instruction manual in the other.

Serena smiled happily. "Alright, what next?"

"Mine!" Mina cheered happily, holding up a miniature cylinder wrapped in orange and gold. Serena quickly snatched the gift from her hand and immediately began tearing at the florescent wrapping paper. She soon came to a small, lightweight yellow can. Peeling off the plastic lid, she screamed and jumped back as hundreds of obnoxious bright streamers came shooting out at her. Mina squealed with delight and tossed some more confetti into the air.

Serena caught her breath, picking some tissue squares out of her hair. "Um… thanks, Mina."

"Yup, anything for a friend!"

Serena rolled her eyes, then smiled as she reached for a large silver package on the floor beside her.

"Ugh!" she groaned, dropping it on the floor again.

"Sorry," said Amy shyly. "I should have warned you that it was kind of heavy."

Taking a deep breath and arching her back, Serena lifted the box again, grunting as it fell into her lap. "Goodness, Ames, what is IN here!" she gasped painfully. Finally, she began to untie the pale blue ribbons. Once the paper had been torn off, she opened the large cardboard box…

A silence fell over the group. Finally, Serena smiled lovingly at Amy. "Gee, thanks, Ames. You… shouldn't have…"

"I hope you like it. I don't think it's too much above your level…"

"No, of course not! I've always wanted… The… Complete Encyclopedia of the Human Mind…"

Amy breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh good, I'm glad that you like it then!"

Serena smiled and moaned again as she pushed the box off of her lap, letting it loud with a thumb on the large sofa. Inhaling sharply, she called, "Okay, who's next?"

"OW!" Everyone turned to the yelp of pain coming from the kitchen. In a moment, Darien came out, covered in chocolate powder and coffee mix.

"Raye, are you purposely TRYING to kill me?"

She laughed slightly, covering her mouth. Serena stood up and walked over to him, brushing off some of the powder from his face. "Angel Lips, is it really that hard to make some simple lattes?"

He glared down at her. "YOU try working that deathtrap!"

She rolled her eyes, patted his head like a puppy dog, and left into the kitchen. A minute later, gurgling and swishing sounds emitted from the adjacent room, followed by Serena carrying a tray of mochas and cappuccinos. "Show off," Darien growled beneath his breath before turning and collapsing onto the couch. "Hey, The Complete Encyclopedia of the Human Mind! Right on!"

After Serena had passed out the drinks, she set the tray down, asking calmly, "Are there any more gifts?"

"Yup!" said Lita, handing her a small flat package.

Serena took it into her palms, once again settling down beside Darien. With a smile, she handed it to him lovingly. "You open it, Teddy Bear. Just don't get powdery stuff all over it!"

He glared at her teasingly before turning his attention to the package. Unwrapping it, he looked down on the gift… and his jaw fell.

"Oh goodness…" he whispered.

"What? What is it, Sweet Cushion?"

He looked up at Lita. "Where on Earth did you GET this!"

"I always carry a camera," she answered confidently.

"What is it!" screeched Serena, trying to look over Darien's shoulder.

Slowly, he handed her the present. Her reaction mirrored his exactly. "Lita… Where did this come from!"

The brunette only smiled to herself.

Serena and Darien looked down awestruck on a picture placed carefully into a small silver frame. There, sitting in the middle of an elevator, a 14 year old Serena in an oversized green jacket with a rose in her hand and a braid around her head peacefully slept in the arms of a young, spiky-haired Darien, also deep in dreamland.

The two stared at the photo for a minute, awestruck. "But… but…" stuttered Serena. "You weren't even THERE that day!"

Lita and the others exchanged glances. "Actually, we all were."

"Who's we?" asked Darien suspiciously. "I only remembered Andrew being lobby at one point."

"Well, there was me," said Andrew, counting off on his fingers, "Rita, Amy, Raye, Lita, Mina, Ted, and Tom."

Darien and Serena exchanged wary glances. "I'm almost afraid to ask who Ted and Tom are."

"Oh, they were the maintenance workers. Really cool guys, actually. We played charades and poker… and Raye won ALL the candy!" screeched Mina.

"Hold it," said Serena, holding up a hand. "You're telling me that while I was stuck up in a cramped elevator with a guy you all KNEW I couldn't stand, sorry Sugar, YOU were playing CHARADES with the maintenance guys?"

Again, everyone exchanged glances. Finally, Raye said, "Yup, pretty much."

Serena groaned. "Figures."

"Then when you came down, we wouldn't let anyone wake you up and we all lost our bets," said Lita.

"Bets?"

"Don't ask."

Amy looked up thoughtfully. "Hm… I wonder what ever happened to the maintenance guys, anyway…"

Lita nudged her gently. "Why, Amy? Do you miss them?"

"Yeah, Ames, I remember Ted had a crush on you," added Mina with a sly wink.

Amy blushed. "He did not!"

"Ya know, she has a point," interrupted Raye with a tranquil, pondering expression. "I wonder where they are too…"

...

_Somewhere in Tokyo_

"...And I would like to thank the people I rescued from the elevator that day so many years back. Without them, I would never have had the self- confidence to attend the Police Academy. Thanks, wherever you are! You have changed my life!" 

"You've done a good job, Officer Tom. I hereby recognize you as Sheriff in Training Tom! You're next assignment will be as a security guard at the biggest department and jewelry store in Tokyo, Diamond Palace." 

As the crowd burst into applause, Tom wiped at a tear forming in his eye. "Awe, shucks…" 

...

Everyone shook their heads after the deep reminiscing. Darien and Serena continued to stare at their friends suspiciously. 

"So…" said Andrew, mentally laughing at his best friend and his fiancé's humorous expressions. "Ya know, you never did tell me what happened when you got out of that elevator."

Darien and Serena turned to each other. Both paled noticeably.

"Um… we'd rather not."

"Aw, come on! Please!" Lita begged.

Serena sighed. "Well, ya see, I was peacefully dreaming of being married to Tuxedo Mask when…"

...

"Well, well, well, Serena Tsukino, I see you don't only fall asleep in my class!" 

Groggily, Serena opened her tired eyes. Looking up, she could make out a big blur with red hair looming over her precariously. Yawning, she wiped at her sleepy blue eyes. "I'm sorry, Miss Haruna, could you repeat the question?" she mumbled, before realizing that something felt terribly wrong. She wasn't sitting at a small, cramped school desk, but rather she was sitting… on a lap! Snapping to attention, she looked up to see a lightly snoring Darien above her. 

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Darien's eyes flew open to see two large cerulean eyes staring him directly in the face. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!"

"Aaaaaahhhh!"

"Aaaaaaahh!"

"Serena Tsukino, quit that wailing or I'll give you detention for a week!"

Silence fell over the two as Serena looked up to see her teacher standing before her angrily, her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, Miss Haruna," she mumbled ashamedly.

"Mr. Chiba?"

The two looked over Haruna's shoulder to see a tall man with brown hair standing just behind her. Darien gulped at the uncanny sight of his boss.

"Oh… uh… good morning, Mr. Nihao."

"Hardly. It's eleven o'clock p.m. Just WHAT do you think you are doing in the elevator at this time of night?"

"Um…" Darien looked down on Serena. "Sleeping?"

Mr. Nihao rolled his eyes. "I can see that, Darien! Might you care to explain WHY?"

"Um… well, ya see…"

"It's kind of a long story…"

"There was this storm and…"

"We came here…"

"To get out!"

"But everything got black and…"

"Just froze,"

"But then there was this speaker…"

"And Andrew, too…"

"But we couldn't do anything, so…"

"We just…"

"Slept."

"Yup, we just slept."

Darien and Serena looked up, smiling as tiny glowing halos formed above their heads.

Miss Haruna rolled her eyes. "Ms Tsukino, you once again answer my questions with no background information. You must work on that!"

Serena bowed her head. "Sorry, Miss Haruna."

Darien snickered above her. She turned and smacked him hard in the shoulder.

"I don't think you should me laughing too hard Mr. Chiba. After all, this is certainly what I'd refer to as robbing the cradle."

Darien's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. His breath caught and with lightning speeds, he had pushed Serena off his lap and now attempted to stand up on his own feet. He didn't notice his one hand trapped between her back and his own jacket.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahh!"

Serena screamed to match his own as he came toppling down on top of her, throwing her onto her back in the center of the elevator. The next thing either knew, Darien's lips had somehow managed to connect with hers, one hand still wrapped around her tightly.

Mr. Nihao raised an amused eyebrow. "Can't you wait just a little longer?"

Haruna chuckled lightly. "Yes, get a room, you two. Children these days. Serena you are ruining the very little bit of respect I had left for you. What would your father think if he knew what you were doing?"

Darien pried himself off the girl, trying to untangle his arm from the jacket. Finally, she simply pulled herself out of the sleeves, leaving it dangling from Darien's arm. Jumping to her feet, Darien hopping up right next to her, she bowed quickly to her teacher. "Sorry again, Miss Haruna. Um… I'll be going now."

"Bye, Meatball Head," Darien choked out, trying to straighten his wrinkled shirt and jeans.

"I'll see you on Monday, Serena," Haruna called after her as the whirlwind disappeared out the lobby door.

Haruna and Mr. Nihao turned expectantly to Darien, still blushing furiously. "It was nice running into you, Darien."

"Um… yes, likewise, sir."

"Unlikely," chuckled the man. Placing his arm around his date, he led her into the elevator as Darien walked out calmly into the lobby.

"Have a nice night," he replied, nodding his head toward them.

"Same to you. But… don't you live here, Mr. Chiba?"

Pausing, Darien cleared his throat. "Well, yes, but… I think… I need to get some fresh air for a little while."

"Yes, of course. Well then, I'll see you at work."

"Yes… good night."

Darien walked away beet red as the elevator doors closed innocently behind him.

... 

Everyone in the small group shuddered. 

"Oh, that must have been SO embarrassing!" said Mina with sympathy.

"You have no idea," said Darien.

"It gets worse."

"Uh… Peach Pie… I don't think we really need to tell them about…"

"No, no, please tell us!"

"Yeah, we wanna know!"

Serena took a deep breath as Darien attempted to hide his head in his hands.

...

"Okay, class, now this is the essay that will be due next Friday," said Haruna, scribbling some words onto the chalkboard. "I will give you time to work in class, but I expect most of it to be worked out at home. The requirements are 3 pages, Times New Roman, size 12, double-spaced. Any questions?" 

The class read over the topic. 'What would I do if I was trapped in an elevator with my enemy for 3 hours'.

Serena choked on air, staring at the sloppy words. Was she reading this correctly?

Amy, Mina, and Lita all looked over to her, giggling slightly.

"Serena, could I see you for a minute?"

Serena stood up shakily and made her way to the front of the room. Seeing Miss Haruna's evil smile, she gulped and faltered.

"Now I want you to stay as true to life as is… school appropriate," Haruna began, tapping her nails on the desk. Serena blushed and lowered her head, nodding slightly, "and I want you to try extra hard on this assignment. Or…"

Serena looked up frightened.

"Or I read it to the class."

Paling instantly, she nodded again, before returning to her desk. 'Isn't this called blackmail?' she thought suspiciously. 

...

"Luckily, I made an 81 on that test. I think if I'd gotten below a B, she would have stayed true to her promise."

Mina giggled. "I almost wish she would have read it. I still wanna know what you two were doing up there all that time."

Darien groaned. "Another time."

"Now, Munchkin, why don't you tell us what happened to YOU after our interesting adventure?"

"Must I?"

"Yes!"

...

Darien walked tiredly into his office, setting his briefcase down on his desk and running a hand through his messy hair. It had been a long, sleepless night.

"Good morning, Mr. Chiba…" sang an over-innocent voice from the door. Turning, he saw his secretary with a sly grin standing in the doorway. He could tell she was hiding something behind her back.

"Good morning, Kate. Can I help you…?" he asked suspiciously. Her grin widened.

"Well… I was wondering if maybe you and your girlfriend would like to go on a double date with me and Kenny sometime. We're going to a bar this weekend… oh, wait! I'm sorry, she's probably too young for that isn't she? Maybe McDonalds instead? I'm sure she'd LOVE for you to buy her a Happy Meal!"

Darien's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropping noticeably. "Wha… what are you talking about!"

Laughing, she threw a paper at him before scurrying quickly from his office.

Nearly choking with confusion and surprise, Darien slowly looked down at the company newsletter held in his hands. Walking around behind his desk, he slumped into his chair before skimming hurriedly through the articles.

"Rise in stock price… Ms. Akane celebrating 40th anniversary with company… Elevator crisis… Big computer report coming along… Mr. Kusai wants… WHAT!" His eyes jumped back to a previous article. 

**Crisis in the Elevator**

Last weekend one of our fervent  
employees was trapped  
unceremoniously in an elevator in  
his apartment building. Because of  
this, we've decided to enhance the  
safety and maintenance of our own  
elevator systems. Thankfully,  
Darien Chiba, the young worker who  
had inspired this change by being  
stuck in his home elevator, was  
unscathed by the frightening  
experience. He was found with his  
girlfriend late Saturday night  
asleep in the back of the stranded  
box. Gladly, both young lovers were  
okay after supposedly comforting  
each other during these untimely  
circumstances. Mr. Nihao and his  
fiancé, Miss Patricia Haruna, found  
them sleeping together, with the  
young lady peacefully in his lap.  
If anyone would like to share their  
support for the terrifying  
incident, feel free to talk to  
Mr. Chiba at his office on the 11th  
floor, or send flowers or a gift to  
Serena Tsukino, his girlfriend, who  
attends Juuban Middle School.

Thank you. 

First he went pale. Then the blood flooded his face and the predicted blush stained his cheeks. Gulping, Darien tried desperately to clear his throat, before giving up and deciding to go home and call in sick. With a severe case of the flu. That could last up to a good three weeks. Maybe he could work from home… 

...

Serena giggled, wrapping her arm around Darien's shoulder as he tried again to hide his face as he remembered the awful embarrassment of it all. The rest of the guests were in an uproar, imagining what Darien must have gone through. 

"Oh, you poor man!" said Andrew between laughs. Darien rolled his eyes.

"It's okay, Sunshine," comforted Serena, kissing his cheek. "It's all in the past. Besides, everything worked out for the best, you know."

Slowly, a smile tugged at Darien's lips. Looking up at his Meatball Head from the corner of his eye, he nodded. "Yes, it did. My soon-to-be- wife," Turning, he bent down and pressed his lips to hers, ignoring the laughter going on around them.

"Hey, THAT brings up another question!" said Raye excitedly. Breaking their kiss unwillingly, the couple looked agitatedly up at her.

"And what would THAT be?"

"How on Earth DID you two get together in the end?"

"That's right! I mean, if that had happened to me and Rita," said Andrew, "I probably never would have talked to her again."

"Yeah!" agreed Rita, "either that or I'd bite his head off the next time I saw him!"

"Well…" said Serena, looking down. "You see, I was gonna try to avoid him…"

"While I wanted justification for my embarrassment," added Darien.

"So a few nights after the elevator incident I was out on my balcony, my family was out for the night, and…"

...

Serena sighed, stepping barefoot out into the cool night air. Steadily, she walked to the edge of the balcony, leaning on the railing. She'd finished the essay early this time, determined to have a passing grade. There was no WAY she was going to let the scouts know she'd been stuck in an elevator with DARIEN all Saturday!

Staring up at the stars, she sighed.

'Darien…'

Her heart tore within her. How she wanted to see him again… But she could never face him. She'd slept on his LAP for Pete's sake! And then her teacher and his boss had seen them together! She could never look him in the eye again. No matter how much she longed to see him… hear his voice… play cat's cradle or sing lullabies…

Rolling her eyes, she leaned dejectedly on her elbows. She'd miss him terribly. Over the few hours where she felt she'd finally seen the REAL him, not just the jerk who teased her, she'd grown to care for him very… very much. Why did things have to be this way? DID things have to be this way?

"Of course," she whispered to herself. Even if she did see him again, even if he'd already forgotten about the song and the tango, even if he couldn't care less about what had proved to be the best night of her life, she knew she couldn't see him without wanting more. As she stood there, her heart screamed at her that she was in love. And if she told him… if he found out… what would he think? Would he not be disgusted? Or would he merely laugh at her, thinking it nothing more than an idiotic schoolgirl crush? She WAS only in middle school, after all. And he… he was a college guy. He had a job, his own apartment. And he had every girl who crossed his path swooning. She could never have him.

And so, she knew she had to stay away. Hard as it may be, it was better this way. 

...

Darien walked angrily down the sidewalk, the newsletter clenched tightly in his fist. Everywhere he'd gone in his company building, he'd heard snickers, comments, teases. But that wasn't what made him so mad, though it certainly didn't help. It was what he was feeling. Every time someone had criticized the fact that Serena was a KID, he'd wanted to jump down their throat. Scream and yell until they got it through their thick skull that she was more than just a kid, that she was better than any WOMAN he'd ever met! 

And those feelings terrified him. He needed answers. He needed to know what he was feeling. He needed to know why, and how. He needed to know if Serena had felt half the embarrassment he had. But most of all, he needed to know if Serena felt the same strange emotions toward him.

He gulped as he rounded the corner to her house, walking quickly down the street. Then, looking up, he froze. In adoration, he watched an angel standing alone on a balcony. She wore a white evening robe and golden hair tied into two balls, flowing in the wind out toward the street. Her eyes were fixed on the heavens above, two stars glittering within the recesses of her gaze. His breath caught. Had she been so beautiful before?

Suddenly, he wasn't so sure about these feelings of his.

He could see her lips moving. Strolling closer, he hid beneath a tree in her yard on the side of the house, just beneath the balcony, feeling guilty of his eavesdropping, and yet not enough to force him to desert his intentions.

"Darien…" she whispered to the stars above. "Darien?" Rolling her eyes, she shook her head sadly. "Why the heck did you have to be Darien? For goodness sakes, couldn't it have been Andrew? Or Josh? Or someone that I at least LIKED!"

His hopeful eyes sank. His name had sounded so elegant on her tongue, why did she have to add that to it! What was she talking about, anyway? Being stuck in the elevator? Was that it? She wished it'd been with someone else? He vaguely remembered her saying that she couldn't have wished for anyone better to be trapped in an unmoving metal box for three hours with.

"At least then it wouldn't be so hard to accept the fact that… that… Oh Darien, did you have to be so flippin' perfect? Why couldn't you have been a jerk again? Do you know how much easier that would have made my life on me? And why, oh goodness WHY did it have to feel so warm and safe in your arms? Like… it was meant to be…"

His brow furrowed confusedly. 'Now she's saying she LIKED being stuck in the elevator with me! Women…' he scoffed silently.

"But it wasn't meant to be. I know that… that you don't feel the way I do. That you never could. I don't deserve you… But if only, just once… I could feel that way again… What would I give to have had that elevator stationed for just… just a while longer. What would I give to be with you right now…" She sighed, resting her hand on her cheek dejectedly. "But I can never see you again. It's better this way, so that I know you can't break my heart. I'll just… have to stay as far away from you as possible."

"Good luck!"

Serena gasped as a deep voice sounded from below. Screaming, she grabbed for the sides of her sheer robe, pulling it quickly in front of her chest. Darien laughed, easily grabbing hold of the tree and swinging up, climbing up to the same level as the balcony.

"Who's there? And WHY are you here! Go away!"

Serena screamed again as a hand landed on the railing before her. Panicking, she reached for it and pried it away from the handle, pushing the stranger off of the balcony.

Darien yelped, loosing his grip as he felt himself falling. Quickly, he grabbed onto a branch, holding on for dear life. "Serena! It's me! Darien!"

The frightened girl stopped in her tracks, preparing to run into her house and lock every door. "Darien?" she called back, slowly making her way to the edge again.

"Yeah, it's me, now could you help me out a little here!"

Peering over the edge, she could see a mass of black hair and two blazing sapphire eyes gazing up at her through the branches. "Oh, DARIEN!"

Rolling his eyes, he mumbled, "Nice to see you, too."

"Ooh, let me help! Um… um…"

"Serena, just get a rope or something!"

"Gee, good idea, Darien, and I just happen to carry a spare rope around with me everywhere I go!"

He sighed. "Well use your imagination! I'm losing my grip here!"

"Okay… um…" Running inside, she grabbed to blanket off of her bed, before jogging back out to the balcony. "Here, grab onto this!"

Clenching his teeth, Darien began to reach out for it with one hand, before stopping. "Bunnies? You have BUNNIES on your blanket!"

"Oh, just shut up and grab it!"

Still chuckling, Darien managed, "Tie it off somewhere, I doubt you're strong enough to support my weight."

"Oh good ide… Hey, are you saying I'm weak!"

"SERENA!"

"Okay, okay, don't have a hissy fit!" Quickly, she tied the end of the blanket around the railing, securing it with a tight knot. "Alright, Darien."

"About time." Sighing, he grabbed onto the blanket and easily climbed up to the balcony, using the tree for extra support.

Serena leaned tiredly against the wall of her house as he swung a leg over the edge, sitting leisurely on the railing. Biting her tongue, she looked up at him nervously. "Um… sorry about that… You just… scared me a little…"

Tossing the other leg over, he pulled the blanket up, untying it from the railing. "Bunnies…" he mumbled amusedly under his breath. Serena could feel a blush begin to tint her cheeks.

"Um… are you… okay?" she asked shakily, nearing him.

"For having almost fallen to my death? Yeah, I think I'm fine."

She nodded her head, reaching out to lightly touch his sleeve, seeing a small tear cut through the dark material. He jerked back as her gentleness sent a shiver through his spine.

Gasping and with a blush appearing on her cheeks, Serena turned away.

"Ya know," said Darien after a moment of silence. "You happened to make me a huge laughing stock in my company."

She furrowed her brow, turning back to the man who was leaning casually against her balcony railing. "How did I do that?"

He shrugged, a wry grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "Word got out about the elevator thing, and now they all think I'm going out with a middle school kid. Not great for my reputation, ya know."

At first she showed little emotion, before understanding and hurt and anger flashed across her features. "Oh and just WHAT is that supposed to mean! Are you too good for me or something, Mr. 'I live on the twelfth floor'!" she yelled crossly.

Darien's eyes widened slightly. Had it came out sounding like that? "Well, no, it's just that…"

"For your information, I know lots of older guys who would like to be going out with me! Just because I'm younger than you doesn't mean you're better than me!" she spat.

Raising an eyebrow, Darien tilted his head to the side. "Lots of older guys, huh? Name one! Andrew, maybe? Oh, wait a minute, he has a GIRLFRIEND!"

Fiery coals lit up in Serena's eyes. She crossed her arms angrily across her chest, staring up at him in hatred. His mock-amused grin faded away and he stood up stiffly, staring down on her.

"I wasn't talking about Andrew," she whispered, attempting to keep her anger in check. "Either way, my point is: you would be lucky to have someone like me, even if I am just a middle school girl."

'And don't I know it…' Darien thought silently, forcing his features to remain cold.

"Oh yes, darn lucky to have a ditzy, klutzy, immature teenager drooling all over me. Just what I've always wanted," he replied sourly.

"Like I would EVER drool over YOU! Ha, ya know what? I'm embarrassed that your company thinks that I'M going out with YOU! Like I would ever sink that low!"

Darien clenched his first. 'Yeouch, that was a stinger.'

"I bet you don't even know what the meaning of fun is!" she continued, ignorant to the brief pain flickering across his gaze.

'I'll just ignore the memories of the magic trick and hair makeovers. Yeah, that's a good plan…' she told herself.

"At least I have taste enough to know how immature things like magic tricks and hair makeovers really are!"

'Oh fine, well, there goes THAT idea.'

"Oh, and that speaks volumes for YOU, Houdini! And just WHEN was the last time you did something just because you WANTED to?"

Once again, silence fell upon the two.

'When I swept you in my arms and carried you to my apartment. When I tangoed with you… fell asleep with you in my arms…'

Serena's determined face melted as she stared into wave after wave of emotion flooding through his eyes. Her lips opened slightly as she gasped, her arms and body losing their tenseness.

"D…Darien?"

"The last time I did something just because I wanted to? Was far too long ago…" he whispered. Before Serena could begin to contemplate what he meant, his lips were on hers, his arms wrapped irresistibly around her waist.

Every muscle in her body tightened uncontrollably as his kiss seared through her sensitive lips. A muffled squeal died silent, as her eyes began to grow heavier. Closing her lids, she leaned into him, inching her hands up his chest. She didn't realize when he had turned them both around, pinning her against the railing. She unconsciously wrapped one leg around him, attempting to keep her balance while all those pesky 'common sense' thoughts decided to take a vacation.

Bending over her, he vaguely questioned why he was doing this. The warmth of her sent shock after shock down his spine, her lips filling his mouth with sweetness. Too tempted, he threw in some tongue, feeling her press against him.

Eventually easing away from her lips, Darien led a soft row of butterfly kisses along her cheek, traveling gently down her pale neck. He thought he heard her whimper his name, so quietly. Stopping his descent, he just held her for a moment, burying his head in the silky material around her neck, both of them gasping for breath.

"Two minutes ago," he finally muttered.

"Huh?" she muttered, her senses beginning to light up on the mental switchboard.

"The last time I did something… just because I wanted to… was two minutes ago."

Her crystal blue eyes opened to see a star-studded blanket hanging overhead. It was awfully peaceful tonight… Not knowing how to react to his former statement, she only leaned her head on top of his, staring continuously up at the night sky.

'It's so warm right here… And so peaceful…'

"Serena, darling, are you out here?"

Serena's eyes shot open instantly and she pulled away from Darien. He, himself, was frozen, staring at the curtained sliding glass door over his shoulder. "Um… yeah mom, I'll be inside in a minute!" she called, walking toward the doorway, to make sure no one was coming.

"Hurry up, we picked up some Dairy Queen ice cream on the way. There's a sundae in here, just for you!"

"Sure thing, Mom!"

Heaving a deep breath, she turned to see Darien staring down on her with a tad bit of worry. "I suppose that's my cue to leave?"

She nibbled on her lip momentarily. "If my parents find you here, they'll kill me."

Slowly, Darien let a smile crawl onto his lips. "We couldn't let that happen, now can we?" he teased, drawing some fingers along her clothed stomach. She blushed, turning away. "Serena…" he whispered, lowering his face to rest his forehead on hers. "I know this is sudden, and so strange compared to everything we've been through in the past, but… I think I…"

"Serena, get your butt in here, your ice cream is melting!" screamed a youthful, angry voice as a young boy came bursting through the open doorway. Serena screeched, panicked, and pushed on Darien's chest, knocking him unceremoniously backward over the railing. He let out a yell, before silently reaching out to grab anything he could come in contact with. Quickly his hands managed to gain a grip on the platform, with branches from the tree poking into his back. Flinching, he struggled to keep quiet. Gasping after her sudden movements, Serena looked hesitantly between her brother who had just stepped onto the balcony, his fists stubbornly on his hips, and two strong hands that now grasped onto the base of the porch.

"I… I'll be there in just a moment Sammy," she all but growled, her voice dancing between anger and worry. "Now why don't you go inside and put it in the freezer for me?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, but if I go back in there without you… I'm eating it myself!" he taunted, before bolting inside. Serena screeched, her jaw falling open.

"Hey, that's MY ice cream! You better lay off, Sammy, if you know what's good for you!" Serena screeched, stomping in after him.

Darien, for his part, only hung patiently, kicking his legs in the air. "Eh… Serena? Meatball Head? Are you forgetting something here?"

_Meanwhile, in the living room_

Serena skidded down the stairs, before jumping for the kill and tackling Sammy to the ground. He grunted as she landed on top of him, his arms thrashing about. "Serena, what do you think you're doing!" 

"How dare you threaten to eat my dessert! Now you will pay, you flee- infested mole rat!" Taking a moment to glance upward, Serena paused, her jaw falling open as she saw a single pair of black dress shoe-clad feet dangling in the window. Her breath caught… "Uh… oh…"

"Serena, hon, get off your brother."

"Yeah, Meatball Brains!" Sammy said, struggling beneath his sister's weight. Finally, with the help of her lost attention, he pushed her off of him before scrambling to his feet. Serena gulped, finally standing herself, her saucer eyes turning back to see her mother still standing in the doorway, a milkshake held forgotten in one hand as she stared oddly at the window.

Inhaling deeply, Serena gulped, gritting her teeth.

"Ken… sweetie… Can you come in here?" Serena's mom called, turning back briefly to call to her husband in the kitchen. Serena watched anxiously as the two feet slowly lifted out of site from the window. Letting out a deep breath, she waited for her father to enter.

"Yes, love?"

"Is it just me or is there…" began Ilene, turning back to the window before stopping mid-sentence. "Oh… that's funny, I could have sworn I saw a pair of feet hanging in the window a moment ago. Serena, did you see anything peculiar?"

Shrugging, Serena forced a smile. "Not a thing, Mom! Maybe you were just seeing shadows from the tree."

Sammy snickered. "I think Mom cracked. That's what she gets for putting up with a daughter like you for 14 years."

"Ooh, shut up, Sammy!"

"Now, kids, don't you start fighting…" ordered Ken, wrapping an arm around his wife's waist to lead her back into the kitchen, Sammy in tow.

Letting out a deep sigh, Serena hesitantly began to follow them, but halfway out the door, she heard the familiar sound of breaking branches. Her eyes widened and slowly she turned back to face the window just as a loud CRACK resounded, followed by a tumbling yell and a large body fell through the window, landing with a booming THUD. She flinched, pulling back slightly, before letting out her breath and running into the kitchen.

"I think I just remembered that… that… I'm supposed to be doing a science project! About… trees… at night… so, uh, I'm gonna go do research. Be back in a bit!" she squealed, before running out the front door.

Rounding the side of the house, she instantly saw a moaning form in the grass, balled up like a fetus with his arms wrapped around his stomach. Serena grimaced, nearing him hesitantly. "Eh… Darien? Are you… okay?"

"Not… really…" he managed, looking up at her. She breathed in deeply, sitting down on her knees next to him.

"Sorry about that. But hey, at least you can still talk, that's something." She helped him sit up in the grass, picking some of the leaves from his hair.

"Look, Serena, what I wanted to tell you…"

"Serena, did you bring your coat out here?"

Perking up, Serena turned to see her mother coming around the corner with a pink jacket in one hand. Instantly, she sat up straight, placing one hand behind her head, the other on her hip as Darien fell to his stomach, trying desperately to hide behind the small girl. "Gee, thanks Mom! Just leave it there!"

Serena's mom froze at the edge of the lawn, tilting her head to the side. "What for, honey?" she asked calmly, taking a step forward.

"No, stop!" Serena screeched, sticking out her hand. "You can't come any closer because… because… it will ruin my research!"

"Huh? What kind of research are you doing?"

"Um… well, you see… I'm trying to find out… how trees react when they're… spoken to… by one person… every night… and… your voice might confuse the oaks!"

Ilene stood still a moment, furrowing her brow, before rolling her eyes. "Oh, honey, that's silly. Here, just put your coat on and…"

"NO!"

"Serena, what is wrong with…"

"There's another reason you can't come over here. It's because… because… um… there's a hive of bees right in the middle of the lawn and… if you get too close, they… they'll attack! And they're POISIONOUS bees, Mom! They'll kill you. Run! Run for your LIFE!" Serena screeched, gesturing wildly with her hands.

Hesitantly, Serena's mom took a step back, her terrified gaze locked on her daughter. "Okay, honey pie… then, I guess… I'll just… leave your coat here…" Gradually she set the jacket down on the grass and turned to begin walking back toward the front of the house. After a moment, she could be heard yelling, "Ken! I think we need to have a small chat!"

Relaxing, Serena let her shoulders sink, her breath escaping her. From behind she could hear Darien's calm chuckle. "Gee, you're a fantastic liar."

"Oh, quiet you!" Turning back, she could see him now lying down mellowly with his hands tucked beneath his head. She rolled her eyes, turning to face him fully as he sat up, his eyes instantly taking on a much more serious role. One strong hand reached out to wrap around her fingers.

"Maybe no more interruptions now?" he asked hopefully.

Serena gulped and shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing's for sure with my family."

Darien nodded, brushing some bangs away from her face. She shivered slightly at the touch. "Then I'll make this quick," he whispered, his face nearing hers. "I think you're incredible, and everything bad I ever said about you was a lie. Besides, I would hate for all my fellow employees to have the wrong idea, so…" He inhaled a deep breath, wrapping one arm around her waist. "Serena, would you like to go out with me sometime? As… a date?"

"Serena Tsukino, do you know what time it is!"

"Eep!" Whisking around, Serena shoved Darien aside, hearing him land with an OOF behind the shrubbery in the garden. With an innocent grin, she jumped to her feet and blinked her eyes rapidly at her father. "Honestly, no!" she chirped, her hands clasped behind her back.

"It is 11:00 p.m. on a school night! Now I expect you to be in bed within fifteen minutes, young lady!" her father commanded, his wife standing just behind him. Then, his eyes squinted as he looked over her shoulder. "What… are you doing out here, anyway?"

Serena stiffened, her heart pounding furiously against her heart. "I'm studying trees!"

"Yeah, but you sure did seem to be studying real hard when we came out here…" he mused speculatively.

Gulping, Serena began to twiddle her fingers. "Well… I was just looking at… the… squirrels!"

"Squirrels?"

"Yup! You see… there were these squirrels… up in the tree… and I was thinking that if they just LEFT while they were still ALIVE then maybe I could study the tree better."

Ken raised a confused eyebrow. "Sweetheart, all the squirrels go to bed before sunset… there aren't any awake right now."

"Oh, I know, Daddy, but… well, at the… the ARCADE today at THREE O'CLOCK, Amy told me about these squirrels that they call… well… night squirrels! And they only come… out… at… night. Heeeh…" A cheesy grin spread over her face as Ken and Ilene just stared back worriedly.

"Er… if you say so, dear… Just, come in soon, alright? I think all this fresh air is getting to your brain."

"Sure thing, Daddy! Goodnight!"

As her parents turned away to go back into the house, Serena could hear her mom whispering, "I told you she was acting strangely."

Once they were gone she could let out yet another deep breath, before raising her eyes to the stars.

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow at three?"

Then a smile crept over her lips. "That would be wonderful."

Grinning to himself, Darien struggled to his feet, before turning her around and lying a small kiss on her lips. She melted against him. "Then goodnight, Love."

Blushing, Serena allowed a small giggle to escape. "Goodnight, Muffin."

"SERENA!"

Groaning at the sound of Serena's little brother, Darien broke off all physical contact. "That's it, I can take a hint, I'm leaving!" he choked out, his hands up in the air. Serena laughed as he rolled his eyes and turned away, ducking hurriedly behind the tree, before scurrying over to the fence on the other side of the garden, and escaping.

She sighed, listing her head to the side.

"I am sooo close to eating your ice cream."

"SAMMY!"

...

"Well, the next day, we officially started dating," concluded Serena happily, not even a blush staining her cheeks, while Darien's face burned beet red in sharing their story with his friends. Some things were meant to be kept private… well, where Serena wasn't concerned.

"Ah… so THAT'S how it happened," said Mina mischievously. "You GO Darien! What a way to break the ice!"

Everyone groaned, as a pillow came flying toward Mina's head.

Rolling her eyes, Serena stood and clapped her hands together in front of her stomach. "Well, thank you all for the wonderful gifts, but I'm afraid Sugar Dumpling and I have to kick you out now. We have lots to do before the big day tomorrow! Next time you see me I will be on my way to becoming…" with big glazed eyes staring off to the sky, she proclaimed, "Mrs. Darien Chi…"

Thwack!

"Ow! Hey, who threw that!"

"Yeah, yeah, we KNOW, Serena. All we've heard since he proposed is Mrs. Darien this, and Mrs. Chiba that, it really is getting quite annoying to those of us WITHOUT fiancés here!" Raye screamed as Serena threw the pillow half-heartedly back at her. She caught it easily, standing and tucking the cushion neatly into the corner of the couch. "Alright, we can take a hint, can't we gals? Let's get goin', leave the lovebirds to themselves."

"Yup, let's go!" bubbled Mina, jumping off the couch and dragging Amy and Lita shortly behind her. Andrew and Rita followed suit, leaving with a sly wink from Andrew at his best friend.

On her way out the door, Raye turned to Serena and commanded seriously, "And Meatball Head, if you are late to the church tomorrow, the sacred fire and I will be sure to place a curse on the WHOLE honeymoon, got that!"

Smiling innocently, Serena all but shoved the girl out the half open door. "Got it Raye, I'll be there on time! How could I miss this?"

"Don't give me that, I know you. You'd sleep through giving birth!"

"Yadda yadda yadda," said Serena slamming the door unceremoniously. Darien grinned, walking over to his bride-to-be and wrapping his arms about her waist, leaning his forehead on hers.

"You ready for the big day tomorrow, mi amor?"

She sighed, closing her eyes dreamily. "I've been ready for a thousand years."

"Good…" he whispered huskily, nibbling on her ear.

Serena laughed, kissing Darien briefly before pulling out of his arms. "That's enough of that, Baby. We have things to do!"

"Right! Why don't you go slip on some shoes while I call to see if the cake and rings are ready?"

"You do that, Honeybunch!" Serena screamed as she ran into the next room.

...

"Hi, we're here to pick up our wedding rings," Darien said to the man standing behind the glass case, filled with sparkling diamonds and rhinestones.

"Your name, please?"

"Darien Chiba."

"One moment, sir."

Serena snuggled closer to her fiancé as the man disappeared into a back room. Darien smiled down on her, leaning down to lightly brush his lips across her forehead.

"What are you thinking about?" he whispered. "Our vows? Or the ceremony? Or the wedding night…?" he prodded.

Serena sighed. "I'm thinking about the giant chocolate cake we'll have at the reception."

Darien chuckled as the man came back holding two ring boxes. "Here you are, sir. I see that you have prepaid, and so I will only say congratulations and have a happy life together."

"Thank you."

Taking the boxes, Darien turned around, Serena tucked neatly beneath his arm, and they began walking off to the elevator. As they neared the metal doors, Serena began to shake noticeably, and he tightened his hold on her. He had been suspecting it since they had entered the building. Sure, elevators were very safe usually, but ever since the fateful day over five years ago, Serena had been terrified of them. Though he didn't understand why. The experience hadn't been that awful, had it?

"Don't worry, Cookie. We just have to go to the fourth floor with the bakery, get the cake, and we'll be on our way. No biggie."

She gulped, looking up at him lovingly. "Thank you, Lover Lips. I'll be fine." They stepped into the elevator and the doors slid behind them. "Ooh, Pumpkin, look!" Serena squealed upon seeing the glass walls. She ran to the opposite side of the tiny room, pressing her hands and nose against the glass to look out on the city's skyscrapers. Darien laughed and walked up to her, tying his hand around her waist again.

"Oh, it's so beautiful…" Serena whispered as they watched the setting sun. "I didn't realize it was so late in the day."

Serena jumped as the elevator came to a jerking halt. Whipping around, she stared up at the lights above the door. 'No, not again…'

Ding!

The doors slid open and the delicious scents of freshly baked goods wafted into the room. With a sigh of relief, she allowed herself to be dragged out of the elevator on the arm of her fiancé. 

...

"Hello, we're here for a specially-ordered cake."

"Name, please?"

"Darien Chiba."

"Ah yes, the wedding cake. Let me go get it for you." After the woman in the green striped apron disappeared, Serena left Darien to look around at the many delectable sweets and goodies, her eyes traveling across cakes and muffins and pies. Drool quickly began to form at the corners of her mouth.

"Cream Puff, come look at this." Turning, she flew to the counter beside Darien where there was a 3-foot tall box sitting on top. He quickly opened the side panel, made for sliding the cake out instead of lifting it to prevent damage. Her breath gasped as she stared at 5 layers of vanilla frosting with sugar coated rosebuds, tiny frills, icing decorations, and at the top, a pink bunny with a white veil standing in the midst of a patch of roses.

"Oh, it's perfect!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together excitedly. "And it looks SOOO yummy!"

Darien laughed, closing the box. "Everything will be perfect tomorrow, Woviedove, I'll make sure of that." Her dreamy eyes looked up to him lovingly as their gazes shared a tender moment.

"Excuse me," said the lady in the apron. They each looked at her, torn from the moment. "Now, I'm including some extra tubes of icing in case the cake is smudged before the ceremony. You or your caterer can apply it to the area quite easily, just squeeze the bottle gently. It's quite simple."

"Thank you," said Darien, taking a plastic bag filled with colorful tubes from the woman.

"Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"Nope, that's all."

"Alright, well then, congratulations!"

Darien handed the icing and rings to Serena, before closing the cake box and picking it up carefully. Slowly, they made their way back to the elevator.

Darien gasped suddenly as he felt Serena freeze in front of him. "What is it?"

"Um… Baby Doll… we can't take the elevator."

"Oh, Shnookums, there's nothing to be scared of. What are the odds of us getting trapped in it a…"

"No, Love Muffin, we CAN'T take the elevator. There's a sign that says 'out of order, please use stairs.'"

"What!" Setting the cake down, Darien stared at the closed doors. Sure enough, there was bright yellow tape across the front, and a sign reading, 'out of order, please use stairs.' "Well, just great! It was working a minute ago!"

Serena sighed. "Hey, at least we weren't IN it this time. Come on, let's go find the stairs."

Darien nodded, reluctantly heaving the box up again. "I can't believe I'll have to carry this thing all the way down 4 flights of stairs."

"Oh, stop complaining. Look at the bright side, if you keep doing work like this, you'll still fit in that tux at our 25th wedding anniversary."

He rolled his eyes. "Joy."

Coming to the door marked 'stairs', Serena pried it open, allowing Darien to go before her while she held it open for him. Carefully, he stepped down the first flight, watching his step as not to drop his luggage. Serena followed directly behind him, carrying the rings and icing in a small paper bag.

Stair after stair, they finally reached the last flight. It seemed to both as if they had come down 20 flights instead of 4. Eventually, they reached the bottom and Darien sat the cake down for a moment to catch his breath. "That thing gets heavy after awhile."

Serena shrugged. "See, you're already losing your strength."

Glaring at her from the corner of his eye, Darien muttered, "You are really doing horrors to my self esteem."

She giggled, quickly reaching to open the door. She pulled on the handle, and her smile began to fade. Again, she tugged at the door, harder this time. It didn't budge.

"Um… Lovebird? I think… it's locked…"

Darien watched her carefully, before standing beside her and placing his hands on the door and pulling on it hard. It didn't change. He tried it again. Nothing.

"Uh-oh…"

"Uh-oh? No, this isn't funny! We can't be trapped in here! Why does this always happen to us!"

"It's okay, just relax. Let's think logically. Chances are the doors are only locked from the inside, so we just have to wait for someone to see that we're in here, that's all."

"Oh, and how do you expect them to find us here? People don't think 'Gee, I wonder if someone accidentally locked themselves in the stairwell! I think I'll go check!' That just doesn't HAPPEN!"

"Calm down! Maybe they'll hear us!" With that, Darien turned back to the door and began pounding and yelling, quickly joined in the activities with his wife-to-be.

"HELP! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

"WE'RE TRAPPED IN THE STAIRWELL! SOMEONE HELP US!"

This continued for some time until both their voices were hoarse and their fists sore.

"This isn't working," Serena muttered.

"Obviously."

"So, got any other brainiac ideas, Einstein?"

Darien turned around, leaning against the door. "Well, the elevator is down, meaning that other people will have to use these stairs to get out of the building also. Maybe one of the workers will have a key or something. Or… I know, we could go back up to the fourth floor, and when that woman comes in, we could stop her, and if she doesn't have a key, then we'll go back out and wait for them to fix the elevator."

Serena stared off silently into space for a moment, before a sly smile crossed her face and she looked back at him. "I KNEW there was a reason I loved you so much! Come on, let's go!"

Quickly, she headed up the stairs. "Hey, wait! We shouldn't leave the cake here if we might not be coming back!"

Stopping, Serena returned to him. "Alright, come on then, pick up the cake, and let's get going!"

Groaning, Darien bent down and picked the box up again, before being led, stair by stair, up to the fourth floor. After 3 flights, Serena paused.

"Um… Cocoa?"

"Yeah?" he muttered, bracing his arms so that he wouldn't drop the box.

"Set that down for a minute." He happily did as she asked and looked up at her, wiping at his forehead with his sleeve.

"What is it?"

"The elevator runs right next to the stairs."

"How do you know that?"

"Because there's a little window right here, and the elevator is running by it right now."

"What!" Darien ran next to her to peer out through the small slit of a window. As he watched, a glass box passed by them, and inside, they could see a woman in a green striped apron staring the other way. "Oh, great."

Serena looked up at him nervously. "Well, that… that doesn't mean that no one is up there, does it? I mean, there's lots of people who work in this building… maybe they'll still be able to hear us."

Darien shook his head, slamming it against the window. "I hate to say this, but… the building closes at nine, and… it doesn't open again until 8 in the morning."

"So? What time is it?"

Holding up his watch, Serena read the gray digits. 8:57.

"And my clock is ten minutes slow. No one will be up there now."

With a small whimper, Serena fell down to sit lazily on the nearest stair before burying her head in her hands. Gulping, Darien sat beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"We're gonna miss our wedding… Sweet Pea, we're gonna miss our wedding…"

Stroking his hand through her hair, he tried desperately to comfort the girl at his side. "Come now, they can't go on with the wedding without us, you know that. We'll be there. Maybe not on time, but we will be there."

A sob told him he wasn't helping. Sighing, he leaned his head on hers. This could be a long night.


	2. Chapter 2

Next Time Take the Elevator: A Sequel  
Alicia Blade

Chapter Two 

"I want the thimble."

"No, I get the thimble."

"But I ALWAYS have the thimble. It's tradition!"

"Which is exactly why you should let someone else have a chance for once!"

"But it's my piece! That's not fair, Lita!"

"Tough luck, blondie! I said that I get it this time! So ha!" Before Mina could contradict again, Lita grabbed up the metal thimble from the box, smiling proudly as it sat leisurely on her thumb. Grumbling to herself, Mina claimed the car as the rest of the pieces were chosen.

"Reese's Pieces, anyone?" asked Amy, walking in cheerfully with a bowl of colorful candies. Raye's hand shot up, a smile on her face as Amy plopped down and passed the treats around the group.

"Alright, everyone on GO!" Rita cheered perkily, throwing the small cowboy hat onto the beginning marker. "I get to go first 'cause I'M the prettiest!" she laughed, reaching for the dice.

"So… what do you think Darien and Serena are doing right now?" wondered Andrew, popping a few chocolates into his mouth.

"Practicing their vows if they know what's good for them," growled Raye, cracking her knuckles.

"Gee Raye, you're really into this whole marriage thing. What gives?" teased Lita.

"As the wedding coordinator, I am determined that everything goes perfectly! And if that meatballs for brains screws up my glorious plans, she's gonna have MUSHED meatballs for brains! This is MY day!"

Lita blinked a couple times. "Um… isn't it… Sere's day? Technically, I mean, since she is the bride and all…"

"Hel-LO!"

The two turned to look stunned at a glaring Rita, her fists white against the board, her auburn eyes staring evilly at Lita.

"Eh… hi?" she whimpered, shrinking backward.

"You're gonna have to put your piece down if you want to play," Rita growled through her teeth. The tall brunette blinked a few times before smiling sheepishly and taking the thimble from her thumb and placing it on the first spot.

"Oh… oops?"

Humphing, Rita began counting out money for the bank.

"Well, no offense Raye, but I have money saying that all your 'glorious plans' are gonna be ruined," said Mina seriously, organizing her money into small color-coordinated piles.

"What!"

"Think about it. The two of them are so obsessed with each other they'll either completely forget about it tomorrow and… you know what instead, or they'll elope tonight."

"Oh, they will NOT elope!" Raye screeched, clenching her fist together as burning embers sprang into her violet eyes. "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

"For what it's worth, I think Mina's wrong. You know how excited Serena was for this wedding. She couldn't wait to be married," Lita contradicted.

"Which brings me back to this eloping thing."

"Ha! Ten bucks says they're at the church bright and early!"

"Fine, ten bucks says they don't show!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"JAIL!"

Slowly, they all turned to look at a madly grinning Rita as she grabbed Andrew's piece from his fingers, throwing it on the barred square.

"Aw, hon, they wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out!" he whined pathetically, staring at his trapped icon. In turn, Rita gasped in disgust.

"WHAT! Are you trying to cheat!"

"Huh? Oh, no, no, no! Of course not, I wouldn't do that, sweetie! What a silly idea, you know me better than that!" he laughed, his hands hanging apologetically in the air. Rita only glared at her rambling husband.

"I cannot believe I'm married to you," she hissed.

Andrew sighed, rolling his eyes as she turned away. "It's not like we have money on this. It isn't poker."

"Yeah, well even if it was you'd probably do something stupid! Like betting ME as a prize or something!"

Sighing, Andrew lowered his head in shame.

The rest of the girls blinked quietly at the feuding couple.

"Oh Raye, what beautiful earrings those are!" Amy squealed loudly to break the ice. Her comment was once again followed by a short silence before Raye's loud voice boomed through the small room.

"You think so, Ames?" she screeched delightedly, fingering the pearl drops and gold trim. "They're brand new, got them at Nordstrom's just last weekend. Aren't they positively gorgeous, and they were on sale too, though they still cost me a fortune. I wasn't sure anyone would notice!"

Gulping, Amy backed up slowly. "Eh… heh heh… I was only trying to change the subject…" she whispered beneath her breath, luckily unnoticed by the priestess.

"Which brings me to my next question…" growled Rita, attracting attention to her frown yet again. "AM I THE ONLY ONE PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS GAME!"

...

The shortest recorded game in Monopoly history was played that very evening, ladies and gentleman. Later, Andrew would say it was for fear of his wife that he allowed her to win. Raye would claim she wanted the witch out of her temple as fast as possible, plus, there was no candy at stake for the winner. The other girls had seemingly decided it was better to lose than to deal with the Wrath of Rita. Of course, Rita would claim forevermore that it was her unbeatable playing tactics.

With everything from R&R Railroad to Boardwalk bought up, claimed, and modeled by the redhead, the guests left the temple twenty minutes later. 

...

"Honey Buns!"

"Yes, Angel Pie?"

"I'm bored!"

"There's a surprise."

"Ugh!" Serena grumbled, folding her hands together as she slid down the wall to plant herself on the first stair. With nothing better to do they had roamed to the bottom floor again, testing each door on the way. All were locked. Darien was presently resting on the staircase, one arm over his eyes and the other sprawled out next to him. "You're no fun!" Serena complained, humphing her shoulders. He chuckled.

"You didn't just carry a 50 pound cake down 4 flights of stairs."

With an evil glare, Serena stuck her tongue out at him, promoting another deep laugh. "Oh, come, come," he beckoned, holding out his arms to her. She hesitated before sighing and tramping slowly to her fiancé, before lying down next to him. "It's alright, my sweet Hershey's Kiss. We'll be out of here first thing in the morning, plenty of time to get home, shower, and be ready for the ceremony with time to spare. Don't worry, alright?"

Nodding, she managed a small smile. "I'm so lucky to have you."

He grinned, kissing the top of her forehead. "Likewise."

There was a moment of silence as they lay side by side, her head rested against his chest, one strong arm tight around her waist.

"Hey, Cherry Cheeks?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember what we did last time… when we were in the elevator?"

"Like it was yesterday."

"It really wasn't that boring, was it?"

Darien shrugged, shifting her weight slightly. "No, not really. We were pretty creative with what we had. The string and the rose…"

Serena laughed, poking him gently in the side. "And it took me so long to figure out how you got that blasted rose, too, Tuxie!"

He laughed gently. "It's not like you didn't have any secrets."

Serena blinked, seeing the paper bag lying next to the cake box. "What did they give us?"

"Hm?"

Without waiting for a response, Serena got up and crawled over to the bag. Darien watched her momentarily to see what had caught her interest, before letting a tiny smile creep over his lips and setting his head down again, both arms now tucked lazily beneath his neck to act as a comfy pillow.

Opening the bag, Serena peered inside to see four colorful tubes of frosting and an even smaller bag with two ring boxes inside. Sighing, she pulled out the red icing, unscrewing the cap to squeeze a bit on her finger. Taking a small nibble, she grinned at the sweet flavor. 'That cake will be perfectly delicious!' she reasoned in her mind, taking out the other two tubes of color. 'Red, yellow, blue, and green,' she thought, flipping them over in her palm. Looking back at Darien, it looked as though he were sleeping. A tempting, mischievous smile crept evilly onto her lips. 'The devil made me do it…'

...

"Oh Raye, aren't they adorable?" I whispered to the maid of honor who stood before me as the voice of the priest drawled on. She nodded her head vivaciously, her hands toying with the white chiffon dress we were all dressed alike in.

From where I stood I could see the golden curls of Serena's hair glimmering in the sunbeams that bounced throughout the church, illuminated by the sparkling stained glass windows. Red and white roses were strung along the pews along vines of ivy and carnations. Friends and family filled up the church to the back, but the room was silent save the continuing traditions.

"Oh, Butter Cup, I'm so happy…" Serena whispered, just loud enough for her voice to carry to my ears.

"Me too, Bunny Rabbit, we've been waiting for this a long time…"

I sighed wistfully, clasping my hands in front of my chest. How perfect it all was…

"If there is any reason why these two should not be married, please speak now or forever hold your peace."

"MINA!" a loud voice instantly boomed through the building like thunder. Instantly, everyone's eyes raised to the roof, expecting some supernatural being to be casting lightning bolts around the roof.

There was no one to be seen where the voice could have echoed from, but soon, effects began to take place. The pillars started to crumble, the pews were lifted form the church floor. Screaming, the guest began to run for the door. A tornado crashed through the building, taking the roses and candles and even the poor li'l priest with it.

"What's going on!" I screeched, falling to my knees. In front of me I could see all the scouts begin to fly away on the wind, their multitudes of hair whipping around them. Then, the unthinkable happened as suddenly Darien and Serena were pulled apart before my eyes. Their hands reached out, trying desperately to hold onto each other, to no avail.

"DARIEN!"

"SERENA!"

A flash of lightning lit the room and suddenly, all of them, my best friends, their families, their loved ones, were gone. Only two bodies remained floating in the air, their bodies limp… obviously dead.

"NOOOOOOO!" I screamed, reaching toward them.

"Mina!" the voice roared again. "This could be your future! This will happen if you do not stay away from Darien and Serena! You must stay away from both of them or the future and life on this planet will be destroyed!"

"What? You can't do that!" I screamed, clenching my fist together and letting it fall to the ground. I growled slightly, gritting my teeth, before forcing myself onto my feet and rising my head high to the ceiling. "Hey!" I yelled, bringing my hand in front of my chest. "I dare you to come down here and threaten me to my face!" There was no response. "Come on, get down here and face me like a man!"

"Um… come again?" the voice sounded more than a tad confused.

"I said get down here you wuss! You honestly think I'm gonna be afraid of some dimwitted voice who decides to harass me in my dreams? I don't THINK so. Your luck ran out when you decided to mess with Mina Aino. Now you get down here right this instant and let me give you a piece of my mind. Ooh, are you gonna get it boy! Just you wait! You dealt with the wrong girl this time, buddy. Now feel the wrath of Venus!"

Slightly shocked, the voice began to chuckle nervously. "I don't think you quite understand…"

"Oh really? What's not to understand? You're blackmailing me! And where I come from, that's a federal offense. I could have you arrested for this, you know? Thrown into jail, locked behind bars. I'll be sure that the authorities throw away the key. Oh, but you'll be lucky 'cause that way you won't have to deal with ME. You'd better be scared! If you think for one minute I'm gonna let you get away with this, you've got another thing coming. Now you get down here right this instant before I come up there and get you!"

"Eh… heh heh… he… eh… What did you say your name was again? Mina? Oh, silly me, I was looking for a… Ms… um… Lina! That' right, Lina Inverse. Gee, I must have gotten the wrong anime, oh for goodness sakes, what a dimwit am I. So sorry for the confusion! Won't happen again! Eh… here are you friends back. Enjoy the party!"

In a flash of light, everything came back together, the pews being glued to the ground and the priest placed neatly behind his podium just as new life was breathed into Darien and Serena. Everyone looked around curiously.

With a wide smile, I brushed some dust off my hands. "That's more like it," I muttered proudly.

Shaking his head, the priest slowly opened the large book before him, clearing his throat. "We are… gathered here today…" 

...

Mina rolled over in her sleep, a tired smile on her lips. Sighing quietly, she nuzzled her head into the pillow, curling up on her bed as her luxurious dream continued. 

...

Darien swapped lightly at the air, turning over on his side, before a giggle and the sharp jutting of a cement stair in his back brought him into consciousness. He gradually raised his eyelids, letting his sight adjust to see a blond girl sitting next to him, a goofy grin on her face. After a short moment, he allowed a tiny smile to spread over his lips.

"What are you giggling about?" he moaned, scratching at his head. She shrugged, tossing a series of plastic tubes into a paper bag behind her.

"Nothing, I just think you're cute when you sleep…" Serena cooed, toying with one lock of golden hair. Darien's smile grew as he sat up and reached forward to draw a finger along her cheekbone. Her blue gaze flew up to his and after a moment of nibbling on her lip, she looked down again, trying desperately to keep from laughing.

Rolling his eyes, Darien drew back. "Alright, what is it? Do I have bed hair?" he joked, rubbing down the black mop on top of his head. She snickered, shaking her head.

"No, it's nothing, really, Snoookie Wookie, don't worry."

His gaze turned speculative, especially when she refused to meet his gaze, but soon he shrugged it off, stretching tiredly. Pursing his lips together, Darien paused momentarily to look at his beautiful soon-to-be-wife. She was turned only slightly towards him, blue eyes glued to her hands resting in her lap and innocently twiddling her thumbs. Smiling, he leaned forward, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist before pulling her up to sit on his lap. She squealed, her eyes wide and meeting his again.

"You looked way too adorable to be left alone," he whispered in response to her surprised expression. Leaning forward, he kissed the tip of her nose, drawing back to see her simper. She was a tad dazed, but in only moments she had that same "I shouldn't laugh, but it's so darn funny" look on her pink mug.

Groaning, Darien leaned back, sitting up against the metal railing behind him. "What IS it? For goodness sakes, Cutie, you're looking at me like my fly is open or something!"

It didn't take long before she had grasped onto her stomach, bending over in bellowing laughter. All he could see for some time was the top of her head covered in thick golden hair and her back shaking with the unceasing giggles. Throwing his hands exasperatedly into the air, he leaned back, waiting for her to quiet.

"Oh… my… Button Nose… that was so…" she snickered twice before bursting out into full-fledged laughter again.

Ten seconds later, Darien groaned exasperatedly, shoving her unceremoniously onto the next step before standing up to make a show of trying the door again. Almost immediately, Serena grew silent, before standing to follow him.

"Oh, Dove Bar, I'm sorry! I didn't mean… it's just… if you only knew…"

"No, I don't care," he snapped quickly, turning his head. Serena began to chew on her lip gently, before another evil grin spread onto her lips.

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," she whispered in her most satin voice, sliding close to him to wrap her arms around his waist, lying her face down against his back. "Please forgive me?"

He was tense immediately, silent for a second, before reaching down and taking a hold of the pair of hands tied at his stomach. "No more laughing?"

"Hm… I'll try."

"Uh-uh, promise. Or tell me what's so funny."

She almost began to giggle again, but held it in. "I promise, no more laughing."

Darien sighed, bringing her hands up to lie tiny kisses against her fingertips. "Good." Turning around, he had her locked in an embrace before she could even begin to let her stern walls crumble, lying feathery kisses along her neck.

...

His keys jingled against his belt as he strolled stealthily through the glass doors, pausing to scour the area before turning to lock the doors behind him. Nodding proudly, he turned once again, shoving his hands into his pockets before beginning to stroll leisurely around the tables and counters and displays. Bobbing his head, he began to whistle, picking up a bottle of cologne to smell it before cringing and setting it back down on the glass scent's counter.

Creek…

WHOOSH!

Tom spun around, his flashlight pointing in the direction of the sound, his black club held in his other fist. After searching the area briefly, he grinned. Flicking off the flashlight, he brought it up to his lips and blew, like a gun in the old western films. "Oh yeah…" he said, a goofy grin plastered on his face. "I'm smooth, I know it."

Throwing the club into its holder at his waist, he spun on his heels, before beginning to stroll once again through the first floor of the department store. The soles of his leather shoes clicked lightly against the linoleum, echoing through the dark room. Slowly, he began to hum, quietly at first, then growing louder and louder until he was singing at the top of his lungs, dancing through the aisles. By the time he started bellowing out the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" he was square dancing with the mannequins, swinging the ballroom gowns (hangers attached), and tap-dancing on top of the small Lego's table in the kids' section, the Barbies and G.I. Joes making for a wonderful audience.

"Thank you! Thank you!" he bowed once the song was finished. "Be sure not to miss my next performance where I will be dancing a duet with Jean Butler. Again, you have been a wonderful audience! Thank y…"

And he paused, mid-bow, his head down and one hand clasped in front of his stomach, frozen like his earlier dancing partner. Quickly, his eyes snapped open, his ears perked. A moment of silence - then he heard it again.

Quiet shuffling from not too far away.

Furrowing his brow, he slowly straightened, his hand twitching toward the flashlight.

Giggling.

His eyes narrowed. Silently stepping off his pedestal, Tom removed his flashlight with his one hand. Following precise movements, he began creeping in the direction of the sounds. Quietly turning on the light, he paused to shortly listen.

A bit more laughing, closer this time.

He paused to stoop down, picking up a piece of dust from the ground in between his fingers, tasting it on his lips, before spitting out like a bad sunflower seed. Now standing again, he began to walk sideways, slowly backing up toward the wall and flicking off his flashlight before placing it back into his belt. He stopped at the end of the wall, just before turning into a wide corridor. Chewing on his lip, he jumped out, holding his hands together like a gun. "Who's there!" he commanded.

Silence. Emptiness. He stood immobile for a moment, motionless as his eyes searched the surroundings. He heard a moan, this one more masculine than the laughter.

His heartbeat began to speed up. Clenching his fists, Tom took a deep breath before tip-toeing as quickly as he could down the hallway, his hand held in front of him like a rabbit. Reaching the end, he thrust his back up against the wall once more. He remained in that position speechlessly, bringing his 'hand gun' up to the other side of his head. Rolling his head on top of his shoulders to loosen the muscles in this neck, the security guard began to hum the Mission Impossible theme song.

Above his singing, a high pitched squeal arose, louder still now.

Gritting his teeth, he jumped into the open hallway, waving his hands in every direction. Again, there was emptiness, though at the end of the hall he saw a single metal door. He drew in a deep breath, reaching for the flashlight and club, before marching toward the door, determination boiling in his thoughts. Once at the end of the hall, he could hear the same familiar sounds, though louder, as if on the opposite side of this wall. Gulping, he checked the flashlight, turned it on, reached for the door handle, and pushed… 

...

"Darien, do you take Serena to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and cherish in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"And do you, Serena…"

The wedding vows drawled on as I heard sniffling behind me, then quiet whimpering, and a romantic sigh. A smile creased my lips. I knew what the other scouts were feeling. After all this time, they were finally tying the knot. I could still remember how they would fight like cats and dogs when they first met, but here, 5 years later, Serena and Darien were about to become a happily married couple. I sighed along with Lita, letting my head drift to the side.

"I do."

Raye sniffled loudly and I could hear Mina whispering comforting words from beside her. It was all so perfect.

"Then with the power invested in me, I now pronounce you…"

"DEAD AND DEADER!" howled a wicked voice. Instantly, all the heads in the place turned to the center of the large church. My eyes focused on the large… THING standing in the center of the aisle.

She, I think it was a she, was the size of a miniature elephant, and had the form of a giant beach ball. It was covered in white, gaudy lace, with two ears resembling upside-down champagne glasses and eyes like diamond rings. One hand was flat and layered like a giant wedding cake, while the other had fingers, three of which looked like miniature grooms and the other two appearing to be small veiled brides.

"I am Bridezilla from the Negaverse! I will now suck all of the romantic energy from you people and this place!" she screeched. As she opened her mouth, blue, silver, and white crepe paper streamers began flying out to wrap around the nearest guests. Immediately, those who weren't tied down began running for their lives, pushing to get to the front door of the church.

Stunned, I only gawked for a minute, the bouquet of pink roses slipping from my grip to land unnoticed on the carpeted floor.

"Scouts! Transform!" I heard Lita yell. Her command was immediately followed by the familiar chanting "Jupiter… POWER!"

I did as I was told, pulling out my pen and transforming before taking out my computer and visor to begin scanning the beast.

Bridezilla looked toward the sound of the voice to see a glowing green light. In the center was the form of a girl, dancing like some ballerina. She listed her head to the side, watching in amusement as the green form twirled around five times, kicked her foot, then began spinning again.

"Hm… interesting…" she murmured. "Wedding bells JINGLE!"

THUMP!

Lita froze, mid-transformation, teetered on her feet for a minute, before her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell forward onto her face, the large bronze bell collapsing beside her.

"Mars Fire…"

"Venus Crescent Beam…"

The monster turned: the gold bands around her eyes raising momentarily. The blond girl in the short skirt before her had one hand raised in the air, gathering yellow light around her while she began to collected a tiny bubble of light above her outstretched finger.

The bubble hesitated at the same time that a warm light was engulfing the black-haired sailor scout. She had her face scrunched up, her fingers below her chin, as her feet began to twirl beneath her, spinning around a few times.

"Useless Gift WRAP!"

The ever-predicted attacks disappeared in the air as ornately designed silver wrapping paper came to tie around the two sailors, tying their mouths and arms down, with Venus still holding her one finger up in the sky as a mumbled "What the…" escaped. They began squirming in the hold of the aluminum-looking paper, before two large gold bows landed on their heads, drooping down to completely cover their faces. Groaning, they each sat down hard on the ground - pouting.

"Stop right there! I am Sailor Moon, champion of justice! On behalf of the moon I will right wrongs and triumph over all evil! You can't just come in here and destroy my wedding. This is my big day! I spent years planning and dreaming about this moment. How dare you try to ruin all my hard work and thought out plans by…"

"Expensive Florist Bouquet THROW!"

"Huh? Aiiii!" Serena screeched, covering her head as a multitude of roses and wildflowers began to fall down upon her, scratching and bruising her tremendously. "Hey! You can't just interrupt my speech like that, it's not fair!"

"Dainty Garter CHOKE!"

Serena instantly silenced as a white lace ring fell down around her neck, tying between her teeth and the back of her head.

"And to finish her off… Wedding Cake BLAST!" Lifting her right hand over her head, Bridezilla aimed and threw the giant cake in Serena's direction, easily knocking her over the alter behind her. I could hear her covered squeal as she tumbled backwards, before there was no sign of the champion of justice but two red-booted feet sticking up over the table.

I flinched, pulling backward a bit as I continued to type away on my computer. My computer's scanner darted over the being, analyzing her from all sides, angles, and dimensions, slowly searching for the weakness I could find in any youma. Then, suddenly, it became beeping at me, finished with its scan. I carefully looked over the information, then my jaw fell. "Wh… what? That can't be! No possible weakness? But… that's never… happened before! ALL the Negaverse monsters have weaknesses, it's their biggest downfall! I mean… that doll thing had the ankle, and… and all the crystal carriers had the downfall of NOT being evil. I mean… how is this… what am I going to DO!" Hysterical, I threw my head to my forehead, collapsing to the bench directly behind me.

Ziiiinng!

"What have we here?" Bridezilla looked down to her feet to see the red rose jutting out from the ground beneath her. Her eyes widened, the diamond likeness glittering with instantly growing tears. "For… for me?" she wailed, bending down to pick up the flower. It was instantly crushed in her grip, but she didn't notice as she lifted it to her invisible nose, inhaling deeply as a stream of tears fell from her closed lids. "This is… the sweetest thing… anyone has ever done for… for… ME!" She began wailing loudly, two fountains spurting from the closed gold bands.

My eyes raised to a stunned Tuxedo Mask. His arm was stretched out to the side, another rose in hand, his mouth fallen open. "Um… well… uh… that wasn't… quite what I was going for…" he stuttered, chuckling slightly as his raised hand came back to push his hat slightly back on his forehead. "But… er… you're welcome?"

"Th… th… THANK Y… eh… ugh…" Bridezilla grasped at her chest, choking and breathing heavily. Her eyes opened wide, the diamonds bursting from her rotund head as she collapsed to her knees. "That's so… >cough, coughwheezechoke, gasp  
There was a long silence before I whipped out my computer and began taking inventory on the internal structure of the monster.

"Let me guess," said Tuxedo Mask, jumping down from the pillar he stood upon. "After all the pain and hatred she was put in contact with in the Negaverse, the act of kindness shown to her through the rose sent her heart and emotions on haywire. Not knowing how to react, her body went into cardiac arrest."

"Actually, it appears as though her heart arteries were clogged by massive amounts of sugar and fattening material, causing the lack of blood and therefore oxygen to muscle tissue and other vital organs."

"Ah…" Darien nodded his head. "That was my second guess." Sighing, he turned to begin cleaning the chocolate mess off the face of his almost-wife.

I shrugged and turned to begin assisting Raye and Mina with their binding paper, careful to avoid paper cuts.

...

Amy's fingers typed unconsciously against the bed sheets, her blue hair scattered around her head. Pausing, she stretched her legs, pulling the blankets up to her neck, before a light snoring echoed through the room. 

...

"FREEZE!"

"AAAAIIIIII!"

"What the…"

Darien and Serena froze, looking up to see a blinding light and dark shape above them. Serena screamed again, ducking behind Darien as he stared at the tip of a short black club. Darien's eyes lifted to the form of a large, rotund man, before glancing over the shoulder to a metal door as it slowly, slowly began to close…

"Hold the door!" he yelled, jumping forward to leave a frightened Serena on the stairs.

Tom's reflexes shot out, holding Darien off, just as a quiet 'click' was heard and the door closed - innocently.

Darien stood with his arm outstretched, only inches from the knob, his chest being held back by the brute strength of a security guard.

"You are under arrest for illegal trespassing on private property, indecent exposure, and assault of a police officer. You have the right to remain…"

"WWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Serena wailed, instantly causing Tom to clasp his hands over his ears, having only one cuff over Darien's wrist.

"What is that god-forsaken noise!" he screeched, grimacing. Darien lunged himself toward Serena, clasping a hand over her mouth.

"Calm down, Pooh Bear, it's okay. Just relax, alright?"

She sniffled briefly, her shoulders shaking and her wide eyes holding onto his. Slowly, she nodded.

"Good. There is no reason to go berserk here."

Calmly, Darien stood, tucking in his shirt that had come undone… somewhere… along the line… before turning to a hesitant Tom. They stood silently, staring at each other, before he gritted his teeth and lunged, his hands aiming for the neck.

"You moron!"

Tom screamed, immediately thrown against a wall by the force of the man before him. "That was our only escape!" Darien continued through his teeth.

"Hey… but… get… OFF of me!" Tom responded, his hands clasping to the other man's arms as his face slowly turned to a pinkish tint.

"Do you have any idea what you just did? It's all over! There is no hope!"

"Oh… boo hoo… cry… cry…" Tom choked out. "I can't… breathe… Get this… Tux-boy off me!"

Then Darien froze, his eyes immediately losing their fire to turn to instant surprise. "Wha… what did you just call me?"

"Tux-boy. Ya know, Tuxedo Mask? As in, the Sailor Scouts and… Tuxedo Mask?"

Darien blinked hard, his hands slipping from the neck. "How… did you… know?"

"Oh, uh… Sweet Cheeks?" Serena called sweetly, digging through her purse after throwing her hair in the buns atop her head once again, after they had been curiously disheveled. Standing, she walked to her fiancé, holding up a compact mirror in front of him. Darien's blue eyes glanced down on it, before he screeched and lunged backward, grabbing onto the mirror to bring it with him.

"What did you DO to me, woman!"

Serena giggled slightly. "Well, I was bored, and you were asleep, and… well… what was a girl to do?"

Darien gulped, poking at the sticky frost on his face, ornately drawn into the shape of a yellow mask around his eyes, a blooming red and green rose on his cheek, and a blue mini top hat on the corner of his forehead.

Rolling his eyes, he fell onto the bottom stair, taking a moment to glare at his girlfriend who currently sat willing a white halo to appear above her head (and not doing a bad job), to turn his attention to the chubby man against the far wall, still rubbing at his neck. "Oh… uh… sorry about that," Darien apologized half-heartedly, lifting his hand as he grabbed his jacket that was hanging carelessly on the railing, as if it had been tossed there earlier in a rush, to begin rubbing the sweet ingredients off his face.

"Yeah, no problem…" Tom sad quietly, gulping. "Though, uh… what were you guys doing in here, anyway?"

Serena and Darien glanced at each other, before each turning bright red and looking away. "Well… er… it's a long story."

...

"Where IS she!" I screeched at the top of my lungs, literally pulling my hair out from the roots. "Two hours. This thing was supposed to be started TWO hours ago! And where is that Meatball Head? Do any of you know? Oh, and what about the ever punctual, ever responsible Darien? Huh? HUH! This can't be happening to me. After all my hard work. And what do I have to show for it? Nothing. No wedding, no happily married couple, no reception… my life, it's ruined!"

I could see my friends looking at me as if I'd gone crazy, their eyes full of little sympathy. Wailing, I collapsed into a chair, burying my head in my palms. "This cannot be happening."

There was a moment of thick silence.

"What did I say?" Mina suddenly said, snapping her fingers together. "They eloped! Ha! Told you so!" Raising my head, I glared at the blond as she flicked a lock of hair away from her shoulder. "You owe me 20 bucks, Leets!"

Lita rolled her eyes, reaching into her pale green evening purse to pull a couple bills out before shoving them into the delighted blonde's fist. She giggled loudly, sighing as if it was some romantic ordeal.

Clenching my fists together I could feel a growl escape from my lips, my teeth gritting together mercilessly. "Why… you… UGH!" Lunging forward, I had her tackled on the carpeted aisle of the church as the guests watched on, amused after their long wait. Mina screamed beneath me.

"Raye, what are you… Ow!"

She didn't need that lock of golden hair, anyway.

"Hey, that hurt! Raye!"

RIP!

There goes that big yellow bow on her dress.

"This isn't funnyyyy!"

CRASH!

Gee, I hope that pearl necklace wasn't expensive.

"Fine, you wanna play that game!"

In seconds we were rolling on the floor, nails out, teeth ready to bite, with hair decorations and jewelry and shreds of cloth flying in every direction. Above us I could hear cheers and bets being called. It only encouraged the cat fight.

"Hey, break it up, break it up you two!" I could hear the voices of our close friends echoing above us, multiple hands trying to grabs us away, but I was out for blood.

Mina was on top now, and just as I felt the sting of a slap across my face, I could feel her weight being lifted off of me. Breathing hard, I looked up to see Lita and Amy roughly trying to hold her from me. Glaring, I stood up, brushed off my skirt, paused… and screamed, running toward her, my arms flailing around, just waiting to connect with something - anything.

But before I could, two strong arms wrapped around my waist, literally lifting me off the ground as I flopped in the embrace, trying desperately to free myself.

"Woah, Babe, take a chill pill!"

Freezing, my jaw dropped. I knew immediately who held me from completing this duel. And he just called me BABE!

"Ew! Let go of me!" I shook around violently, feeling like some king of beached whale, but his arms were too powerful, even for a scout. Really, I had never before noticed how much… muscle he had… With that thought, my face turned red as a ripe tomato and my struggle ceased. He sighed from behind me and I could suddenly feel the carpet between my toes. One shoe had been lost in the brawl.

Time paused as Mina and I cooled down. Looking up, I could see her hair mussed and her face flushed. Lita finally let her go, though Amy continued to keep a tight hold on her.

"Alright girls," Lita began in a commanding tone, her face and voice serious. She reached out to put a hand on each of our collar bones, as if we still needed separation. "Raye, you go to your corner, Mina, you go to yours, and when you hear the bell…"

"Lita!" Amy screeched, her hand unconsciously tightening around Mina's arm.

"Ow, hey, Ames, not so tight! Lay off, will ya!"

I grinned maliciously as the blue-haired girl apologized, her grip loosening. Lita blushed, letting her arms fall to her sides before she stubbornly crossed them over her chest. "Now what is this all about?" She commanded an answer, her emerald eyes glazing from one of us to the other. Furious, I turned my head away, wishing I could fold my arms as well.

"Alright, fine! Raye you can start by telling me why you jumped at her like that!"

The crowd gasped. That's right, I'd forgotten that we were surrounded by close to 250 people (at 600 dollars a HEAD, might I remind you).

"What, are you saying this is MY fault!" I yelled, turning back to Lita. She rolled her eyes.

"Of course this is your fault! You're always the one who starts the fights!" My jaw clenched tightly and a sudden feeling of guilt and remorse overwhelmed my heart. With that, my shoulders sank, my head falling to my chest.

"Oh, it's just awful!" I wailed on instinct, my eyes closing. Chad's arms became gentle around my waist, though not letting go completely. "All the time, all the money, all the effort! It took me so long to have this wedding perfect. How… how could they DO this to me?" I screeched, sniffled, then felt a long cry flee my lips. "Mina… she jinxed it with her bet. I'm sure she did. And now look! All these people are here to see a wedding! What can I possibly tell them? 'Sorry, Serena and Darien are selfish and decided to leave you all here without a wedding, but hey, there are hors d'oeuvres at the buffet table!' AH, what am I going to DO!" Another sniffle and wail escaped as I felt myself being turned around and wrapped in a tight hug.

"Ah, don't cry, Raye!" the surfer-wannabe voice asked above the sniffles of the crowd. "You're right, Babe, there should be a wedding here. I mean, dude, we totally have the church and the priest and even the cute ice gooses on the table!"

"Geese," Amy whispered from behind me, before being smacked by a silent Mina. "Oh, oops, sorry."

I nodded, ignoring them as Chad unconsciously soothed my hair. "But… but Darien and Serena aren't here…"

"But, there's like, totally you and me, babe!"

Slowly, my eyes fluttered open. "What?"

His hands clasped onto my shoulders, pushing me away so that I could see him at arm's length.

"Marry me!" he called suddenly.

My jaw dropped. My eyes blinked rapidly in disbelief."E… excuse me?" 

_Twenty minutes later_

"I take thee, Babe…"

"Raye."

"Oh, sorry 'bout that, I'm a bit nervous. Ahem… I take thee Raye…"

In the background I could hear Mina, Lita, and Amy sigh loudly as the dolt before me tried in vain to speak the old English the priest was spouting. Groaning, I began to wonder how on earth I get myself into these messes.

...

"ACK!" Raye screamed, launching herself full force out of the bed. Grasping at her pajamas, she calmly waited for her heart to cease pounding. With a loud moan, she collapsed back into the pillows. "Oh my…" she muttered, her eyes staring unblinkingly into the dark. "Serena, Darien, you had better show up tomorrow!"

...

"Ah…" said Tom, sitting back against the wall to scratch at his chin thoughtfully. "So that's how you got in here."

Serena nodded, dripping some frosting onto her tongue while Darien ran a hand through his hair.

"Yup, that's basically the whole story. Up until you came in here with that blasted flashlight of yours."

Sighing, Tom fingered the flashlight at his side, flicking it on and off. "Sorry about that. I honestly thought you were some sort of burglars or something. This is my first night working here, you see, and… I just don't want to make any mistakes."

"Looks like it's a little late for that already," Darien mumbled beneath his breath.

"I'm hungry!" squealed Serena, lapping at her lips as she squeezed the last drops of icing onto her finger, before throwing the rolled up bottle up the stairs somewhere. Darien sighed, scooting close to her to rest an arm over her shoulder.

"Sorry, Toots, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. The only thing we have in here to eat is that cake."

"And Raye would murder me if I touched it," Serena muttered, folding her arms.

"That's another thing," continued Tom. "I'm really sorry for letting the door close. I had no idea…"

"It's alright," reprimanded Darien, holding up a hand to shush him. "What's done is done. Now… it would really help if you happened to, say, have a Twinkie on hand? Or anything to hold my fiancé over, really."

Tom reached into his pockets, fiddling around for a minute, before pulling out his hands, empty. "Sorry. I've actually been trying to cut back on the sweets. You know, this job requires that a person stay in tip-top condition. In case we have to chase down some burglars." He nodded proudly, his chin high in the air. Darien only raised an eyebrow, his azure gaze traveling over the new officer briefly.

"Uh-huh, I'm sure you do."

"Hello, no one has solved MY dilemma yet! I said I'm hungry! For goodness sakes, are you listening to me, Darien?"

Darien began to turn to his wife to offer comfort, then stopped and froze, his eyes wide open as they slowly, slowly looked down on her. A cricket was heard somewhere off in the corridor as his jaw dropped hesitantly.

"You… you… just called me… D… Darien…" he stuttered, blinking a few times.

Over her shoulder, Serena could see the shocked look on his face. Her resolute hands placed proudly on her hips faltered. She hesitated, gulped, then tilted her head to the side with a small smile. "Oh, I'm sorry, Pookie. I was just trying to get your attention. Now, now, don't cry."

"But… you haven't called me…"

"I know, it was a mistake. It just slipped out. I didn't mean anything by it. I'm so sorry, Sweet Stuff…" Cooing continuously, Serena tied her arms around his neck, shushing him soundly. "It's alright, Dare-Bear. I won't do it again, okay?"

Whimpering, Darien let his head collapse to her shoulder. "Did I do something wrong? Do you hate me? Is our relationship turning sour already?"

"No, no, I just wanted to get your attention, I swear! I'm so sorry, Bumble Bee."

"Are you… sure, Twinkle Toes?"

"Of course, Cinnamon Buns. Of course."

Darien sighed, nuzzling his head into the folds of her blouse. "Oh good. P…please don't ever do that again. You scared me."

"I won't, Fufu. I won't ever again."

Tom blinked a few times, watching as they cuddled together shamelessly on the stair in front of him. Gulping, he turned away, running his hand through his hair. "Yeah… so… as I was saying… I'm getting kind of hungry myself, there's gotta be something to eat around here. What were you two saying about a cake?" Turning back, his jaw fell open from the previous sentence at the sight of two people kissing adoringly - openly - before him. A blush covered his cheeks as he silently turned away again. "Well, um… er… I think I'll find that cake myself. Eh… thanks for the help."

Standing from his place against the wall, Tom walked over to the purse, paper bag, and large pink box snuggled in a dark corner. Turning, he saw the two still making out on the stairs, oblivious to him completely, before he spun around again to catch a sneak peak into the box. Lifting the lid, his mouth dropped, watering instantly at the sight of a white and pink frosted cake, covered in sugared roses. Written neatly on the top were the simple words 'Forever Love' and miniature pink bunny figure.

He blinked a couple times, shaking his head to rid himself of the temptation, before swirling around. "You guys are getting MARRIED!" he screeched, clasping his hands together in front of his chest.

Instantly, Darien and Serena pulled apart, gasping to stare at the large man before them. His cheeks were flushed, his hands held tightly before him, and his large starry eyes glazed over as he raised his stare to the ceiling.

"I had no idea! That's so romantic…" His voice breaking into a whisper as collapsed to his knees a foot away from Serena and taking her hand off of Darien's shoulder into his own palms. "Congratulations! I am so thrilled for the both of you! I'm sure that you will live happily ever after and that your children will grow up to be just as happy and beautiful as the both of you! Oh, and to think that I get to witness the affection between such a couple. Congratulations, congratulations! I don't know you, but I'm sure that of all the people in the world, you two are the most deserving of such happiness!" With that, he clamped his mouth shut, sniffled a couple times, then grinned lopsidedly at both of them. "I'm just… so… happy!" His shoulders shook, his lower lip trembled, and soon he was hunched over with his head in Serena's lap, bawling large tears of happiness.

Serena turned to Darien, her mouth wide, only to see him shrug in confusion. Sighing, she began to pet Tom's head carefully.

"There, there…"


	3. Chapter 3

Next Time Take the Elevator: A Sequel  
Alicia Blade

Chapter Three 

The sun was bright and warm against our skin, with ribbons and cherry blossoms blowing in the wind. I could see Serena already beginning to travel down the pink aisle littered with rose petals, Darien standing stiffly next to the priest, though with a large smile plastered on his lips. Their eyes were held together, sparkling in the sunrays. I felt like crying. After so many years, our little princess was growing up.

As a single tear began to streak down my cheek, I felt a gentle nudge in my side. Turning, I saw Amy behind me with tears in her own eyes, holding out a tissue. A quivering grin climbed up over my lips. "Thank you," I mouthed, taking it from her fingers and blowing my nose loudly. A blush rose in my cheeks as Serena shot a glare in my direction. I lowered my head.

After a moment, I my gaze rose again, letting my eyes wander over the scenery. Holding the wedding here at the Jesenkyou Ponds had been Raye's idea, and I commended her for it. What a grand idea! The springs glittered in the mid-day light, silent and still with depths of perfect sky blue. They were everywhere, glowing and shining, with tall vertical logs jutting from their waves. We stood upon the only peninsula, the rest of the guests seated on the main land about 20 yards away. Green grass grew up around our ankles, butterflies danced along with the brightly colored flowers and cherry trees rimmed the edge of the sacred training ground. Yes, the Jesenkyou Ponds are most widely known for their martial arts training capabilities, but such a lovely place deserves recognition as one of the most beautiful sites in Asia, also. Definitely, this was a grand idea.

Serena finally reached her groom and they linked hands, sharing unhidden smiles. In front of me, Mina sighed, one hand clasping over her chest. "How lovely," she stated dreamily. I only grinned in agreement.

The priest begins to state the purpose, to unite so and so with so and so in holy matrimony… the words fly in one ear and out the other as I drown in the romance of it all. From the corner of my eye, I see Rita standing beside Serena's parents. The three of them are the only guests not in the ceremony who were allowed onto the peninsula. The four guardians were, of course, Serena's bridesmaids and Andrew posed as Darien's best man. Mrs. Tsukino holds a large grin on her lips, though her arm is tense as she braces a furious Ken Tsukino, her hand locked through his elbow. Obviously, he isn't as caught up in the beauty of everything as much as we are.

"If any person knows a reason why these two should not be united, speak now or forever hold your peace."

"Why you!" Instantly, all heads turn to the steaming Ken, his wife trying vainly to quiet him as he glares daggers in Darien's direction. I cough, shuffling my feet nervously.

"Just an inkling…" I whisper to Amy, "but this can't possibly be a good thing."

"Daddy!" Serena screeches, her blue eyes wide in embarrassment. She is ignored as her father shakes off his wife, continuously staring at a stunned Darien.

"How dare you take away my little girl!"

"Wha… huh?" Darien stutters, unconsciously taking a step back.

Sensing fear, Ken lunges forward. Darien only has time to blink a few times before two outstretched hands tackle him, pushing him backward from the chest. With an abrupt yell, he stumbles back, his eyes widening before he falls over the edge of the peninsula, tumbling downwards.

SPLASH!

Serena screeches, running towards him to collapse next to the edge, her trembling hands grabbing at tufts of grass. "Turtle Dove!" she yells just as… a… a…

"What the hell is that!"

… rose up from the pond, sputtering in every direction.

THAT was a black and white, chubby, blue eyed giant panda.

"Ohmigod!" screamed Serena, "Darien was eaten by a panda!" Wailing, she lurched herself backward. She was almost caught by Raye, but the second impact was made, Raye lost her balance, stumbling backwards.

"No! Raye!" Serena yells, turning swiftly. The crowd diverts its attention to another small pond, looking on for the black haired priestess. However, none arose, only quiet ripples in the water. Serena sniffled. "Raye…"

A cat like hiss aroused just as a black kitten with a small red ribbon climbed out of the pond Raye had recently fallen into. The kitten growled, screeched, shook its hair, then sneezed before walking daintily up to the top of a small grassy island in between two of the springs. Settling down quietly, she began to clean her fur. All these actions were monitored closely by the silent audience.

"Oh no! Not Raye too! Even a CAT could devour her!"

"How strange…" Amy muttered, whipping out a pocket computer. "I didn't think such animals lived in places such as this. In fact, if I didn't know better, I would think that Darien and Raye have become the animals, not been eaten by them. But then, that's a silly hypothesis."

Mina shook her head, looking calmly between the two animals, the panda now sitting in a pond, chewing on a bamboo stick. "Ya know, I get this strange vibe coming from them, almost familiar…" She gasped loudly, her hands flying to her cheeks. "Oh goodness… do you think… that maybe… they're from the Negaverse!"

"RAYE!" howled a voice, running up from the mainland. I turned to see Grandpa Hino jogging toward us on his short little legs. "What happened to her? Where's my Raye? Why haven't any of you gone in there to get her yet!"

"Well honestly, Grandpa, I don't remember which spring she fell into," said Mina cheerfully, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. "They all look the same to me!"

"It was that one, you young, beautiful ditz!" he yelled, taking a short moment to flirt happily, before pointing in the opposite direction Raye had fallen.

"Actually, I think it was…" began Amy shyly, continuously typing away.

"Now go down there and bring her back!" Grandpa finished, his fist clenched. In a moment he had grabbed the trail of Mina's skirt and pushed her, head first, into the closest pond. "Don't come back up here without my Raye!"

Mina's scream was quickly replace by gurgling sounds. And a second after that, I could have sworn I heard her yelling for help, but since when does Mina… oink! Looking over into the pond, I realized my mistake, seeing a drowning blond piglet in the mist, a red bow tied neatly around its neck. "Aw, how cute! Somebody should go help the little piggy, don't you think?" I cooed, my hands over my chest, big glossy eyes admiring the adorable, struggling pig.

"From my research, it seems as though everyone's life serving energy is being constantly replaced and overcome by that of the animals, which supports the theory that they are not being eaten, but these affects are more closely related to replacement…"

"Replaced? REPLACED!" Serena screeched, finally up on her feet again after staring into the ponds silently. Her face was bright red, the veil from her dress missing and her hair tousled. "Well, Einstein, if you're so smart, bring them back!"

Amy chuckled nervously, running a hand through her hair. Well, it's not quite that easy. First, I have to figure out what is causing the changes and where these animals are appearing from. And then…"

"Bring them BACK!" Serena screamed, pulling her hair momentarily before lunging back in the direction of our genius, her hand aiming for her neck. Contact was not made as Amy jumped back in fear and tumbled down and down… just like the rest. Serena froze, her hands still in mid-air. "I didn't do nothin'!" she finally muttered, bringing her hands behind her back. "Didn't touch nothin', didn't see nothin', didn't say nothin', I didn't do nothin'." Whistling, she slowly turned away.

I gulped, hesitating, before looking over the edge. By the time my gaze followed the rings of the splash, Amy was gone, through a cute little duck floated on the top, quacking occasionally. Blinking, I tilted my head to the side, furrowing my brow. "Now that's odd…" I stated as if it were the strangest occurrence of the day.

"Liiittaaa!" Serena wailed from behind me and I turned around like lightning before she could lurch herself in my direction. She was not ready to tackle me, however, only sat crying on the ground, staring at the large living teddy-bear. "Where's my Honey Muffin?" she sniffled.

"Poo po po poo poooo poo poo…" the panda muttered, holding up a white sign from behind him.

"I am Honey Muffin," the sign read in perfect kanji.

Serena stared blankly for a minute before rolling her eyes. "Yeah, right, even I'm not that stupid!" Groaning, she stood up to walk silently into the crowd, disappearing somewhere behind the trees. I watched momentarily as the crowd tittered amongst themselves, before slowly getting up to leave. Frowning, I placed my hands on my hips.

"Well, what a waste of time that was! I'm hungry. Where's the nearest restaurant?"

"Oink-oink:::SQUEAL!" Looking down I saw the tiny yellow pig nuzzling my leg. It looked up with blue eyes before trotting off down the peninsula, taking a left before turning to see if I followed.

"Hm… coulda sworn it was the other direction, but I guess a piglet would know the way better that I would!" I sing, before following the small animal. Together, we walked into the sunset. 

...

Tiredly, Lita grinned, fluffing up her pillow and squeezing it to her chest, a bit of drool rolling out the corner of her mouth. ...

"I'm still hungry."

"There's a surprise."

"Quiet, Da… Carrot Nose."

Darien grinned lopsidedly, lying a gentle kiss on Serena's cheek. She sighed, leaning up against him. "I'm tired too."

"Yup, I'll agree with you on that one."

The serene moment was interrupted by the loud honking of a nose as Tom blew into the handkerchief Darien had offered. "How are you doing over there, Tom?"

"Lots better, Mr. Darien, sir. Here's your hankie back…" Darien's eyes glanced down at the limp tissue before smiling weakly, holding up his hand.

"Eh… you keep it…"

With a smile, Tom shoved it into his jean pocket. Flinching, Darien turned back to the girl as she rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Hey, you know what my mommy always used to do when I was tired?"

"What's that, Tom?"

"Well, she would sit me down on her lap and sing me my favorite lullaby."

"Really? That's very cute."

"Yeah…" Tom whispered, staring up at the ceiling slightly dazed. "She always knew how to make me feel better, and put me right to sleep." Yawning, he stretched his hands over his head. "But that was before I moved out. No one's sung me that lullaby since I was just a wee one…"

"When did you move out of the house?"

"Oh, I left the nest at 32. Yeah, I know it's sad… leaving your mother at such a young age, but I thought I was old enough to be out on my own."

A bit frightened, Darien and Serena exchanged glances before looking up at him once again. His dark eyes held a look of sadness and loss. Whimpering sadly, Serena listed her head to the side.

"Gee, that's really… REALLY… sad, Tom. Is there anything I can do?" 

... 

"On top of Spaghetti, all covered with cheese,  
I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed.  
It rolled off the table, and onto the floor,  
And then my poor meatball rolled out of the door."

"You have a real purty voice, Ms. Serena…" said Tom as her hands ran briefly through his hair.

"My girl is a great lullaby singer," agreed Darien, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist to snuggle even deeper into her side. 

"It rolled down the garden, and under a bush,  
And then my poor meatball was nothing but mush!  
The mush was as tasty, as tasty could be,  
And then the next summer it grew into a tree."

"Just like Mommy always used to." 

"The tree was all covered, all covered with moss,  
And on it grew meatballs, all covered with sauce.  
So if you have spaghetti, all covered with cheese,  
Hold onto your meatball, 'cause someone might sneeze."

Serena sighed, rolling her eyes as her head hit the railing behind her, her hands running tenderly through the two mops of hair on her lap.

"That was… so beautiful… Ms. Serena…" Tom yawned and smacked his teeth together a few times, before snuggling a bit more into her waist.

"Yeah, thanks, Tweetie Bird…"

"On top of…"

"All covered… with…"

"Poor meatball…"

"Head…"

Rolling her eyes, Serena could hear the gentle sounds of the two grown men as they drifted off to sleep. 'How do I get myself into these positions? I thought I was the tired one here. For goodness sakes, people, really now…' Groaning, she tried desperately to get comfortable, weighing out the two bodies snuggled up against her. Finally, she relaxed with her head nuzzled into the wall just beneath the railing.

HONK :wheeezze: SnOrT -wheeew…-

HONK :wheeezze: SnOrT -wheeew…-

HONK :wheeezze: SnOrT -wheeew…-

Serena's eyes snapped open in agitation. "Oh, God no…" she muttered beneath her breath to the sound of a grown man snoring in her ear. 

...

This dream sequence is brought to you by the makers of Happy Pills! Are you sad? Lonely? Depressed? See a psychiatrist! But, if you just need a pick me up, try caffeine, sugar, and artificial flavor enhanced Happy Pills today! 

... 

"Does he love me? I wanna know! How can I tell if he loves me so?" Jumping out from behind the chocolate candy-covered bush, I grabbed one of the first ice cream cones I saw, holding it to my lips like a microphone and dancing into the sugar cane field.

"Is it in his eyes?" sang the small blue birds in the air, twirling and dancing on the clouds.

"Whoa no, he'll make believe!"

"Is it in his eyes?" continued the small chipmunks on the happy tree trunk, their arms around each other as they sang with their small beady eyes closed.

"Oh no, you'll be deceived! If you wanna know if he loves you so, it's in his kiss…"

"That's where it is!" screeched the little goldfish in the nearby crystal clear spring, jumping out from the silky waves.

"Is it in his face?"

"Whoa no, that's just his charm."

"In his warm embrace?"

"Oh no, that's just his arms. If you wanna know if he loves you so, it's in his kiss…" Picking up the small bear cub at my heels, I began ballroom dancing through the meadow, dipping the young animal like a ballet dancer and swinging him around on my tip toes.

"Shoop, shoop, shoop!" sang all the animals, the frogs from the pond jumping around me and the Easter lilies swaying in the gentle breeze.

"So kiss him… and squeeze him tight!" Setting the bear down, I pulled the grand ancient cherry tree into a tight hug. "Find out what you wanna kno-o-o-ow… If it's love, if it really is…" Sliding into the middle of the field on my knees, I threw my hands up to the sky. "IT'S THERE IN HIS KISS, WOOOAAAHHHH!"

"Is it in his smile?"

"Oh no that's not the way! And you're not listenin' to what I'm sayin'. If you wanna know if he loves you so, it's in his kiss!"

"That's where it is!"

"Oh yeah, it's in his kiss."

"That's where it is!"

"Oh yeah, it's in his kiss…"

"Wwooooohh, weeeoooohh… oooooooooooohhhhh…" 

...

"Andrew, SHUT UP!"

:WHACK:

Andrew yelped, sitting up in the bed as a hand smacked him in the face. "Wha…?"

"For goodness sakes, you were singing in your sleep, AGAIN! What on earth goes on inside that head of yours all night!" Rita screeched, moaning as she fell back in the pillows. Andrew sighed, rubbing at his sore nose.

"Sorry, Hon…"

"It doesn't matter now, we have to get up anyway. The wedding will be starting in about 2 hours." Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Rita got up to walk into the kitchen in order to start a pot of coffee.

After a quiet moment, a goofy grin spread over Andrew's face as he stood up to find a change of clothes and go in to take a shower. Beneath his breath, he began to sing, "Is it in his face? Whoa no, that's not the way!" 

... 

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. 

...

HONK :wheeezze: SnOrT -wheeew…-

HONK :wheeezze: SnOrT -wheeew…-

WHACK!

"Ow!"

"Would you SHUT UP already!" Serena screeched, withdrawing her arm from the face of the large man snuggled into her side. Darien groaned, rolling over to slowly open one droopy eye. His gaze was met with a security guard leisurely rubbing at his nose and his girlfriend grumpily smacking her lips together. A crooked grin creased his cheeks.

"She's grumpy in the morning," he yawned, sitting up to stretch carefully.

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Well, you would be too if some oversized crybaby had been snoring in your ear all night long!" Serena hissed, standing onto shaky legs to walk over to her purse and pull out a makeup compact in order to begin applying the foundation. After a moment, she sighed, turning around to see the two men still trying to wake up on the stairs. "For goodness sakes, I'm supposed to be getting married in a few hours. Why on Earth am I trapped in here with you two loonies!"

"You know, you couldn't very well get married in a few hours if it was just me trapped in here either."

She rolled her eyes, straightening out her shirt and smoothing the material from wrinkles. "Not my point."

"Hm… according to my watch, workers should be here by now."

"What? What time is it?"

"11:25."

"Ha! And I'm AWAKE at such an ungodly hour? For goodness sakes, I'm going back to bed, and both of you had better stay away of me. I want you both outside a 10 foot radius! I will not lose out on any more beauty sleep than I have to!"

With that said, Serena knelt down on the floor and once again curled into a ball before she was breathing quietly, almost asleep.

"Eh… Snicker Doodle… if Tom is right, then we should get someone to let us out. Have you forgotten? We're supposed to be getting married in… well… 25 minutes ago."

Serena's eyes snapped open, instantly followed by her jumping to her feet, whisking around to face him. "25 MINUTES AGO? But… but… what if they've already given up on us? What are we going to do?" Wailing, she fell to her knees, sniffling and crying as loudly as her vocal cords would allow.

"Now, now, you really shouldn't do that," reprimanded Tom, searching through his pockets. "You'll get red puffy bags under your eyes, hardly the look you want on a day like this. Look, you stay here and get some rest, and I'll go out into the store and buy you some cucumber slices, and maybe some aloe cream. Would that work for you?" said Tom comfortingly, pulling out a ring of jangling keys from his pockets to begin flipping through the metal keys.

Sighing, Serena slid down the wall to collapse onto the floor, the tears only beginning to subside. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I'll just wait here for you to get back."

Finally finding what he searched for, Tom grinned up at her. "I'll be back in a jiffy then!" Sliding the key into the lock on the door, he tilted the handle down, opened the large metal door and walked out. It almost latched close again, but was stopped just as Darien reached out a hand to catch it before the door could close completely. He held still for a moment, his mouth open as he glanced from the semi-open door to the handle to his wife and back again, repeating the process a few times.

"Fluffy Muffin?"

"Not now, Peanut Butter Cup, I'm still trying to let out my stress in big bawling tears."

"Yeah, but, uh… Love Biscuit… the door…"

"Is locked, I know. Just wait until Tom comes back to open it for us, alright? Then we can go to the church and get married and everything will be happy-go-lucky, got it?"

Darien chewed on his lip momentarily, looking down at his hand, still holding onto the small metal door handle. "Well, Snookie Bear, about this door thing…"

...

"I am going to kill her."

"Now, Raye…"

"I am SO going to kill her."

"I really don't think that would be a great idea…"

"Stop arguing with me on this one, Lita! The girl is going DOWN."

Lita gulped, taking a step back to twiddle her fingers. A silence passed over the girls standing in the lobby of the church. Inside they could see the guests lounging and talking uncomfortably.

"It's not all that bad…" began Amy, pursing her lips together.

"What do you MEAN 'it's not all that bad'? There should have been a wedding here an HOUR ago, and the bride and groom haven't even showed up! What am I going to tell all these people!" Suddenly, a look of fear passed over Raye's face and she clamped her hand over her lips. "What if I'm forced to marry CHAD!"

Amy, Mina, and Lita exchanged curious glances, but couldn't comment before Andrew and Rita came walking into the room, worried expressions covering their faces.

"There's no one picking up Darien's phone. They're not at his apartment," said Andrew.

"And I couldn't get a hold of his cell phone either."

Sighing, Raye collapsed weakly into the nearest chair. "This is a disaster," she mumbled, her hands rubbing at her temples.

"Er… can I make a comment?" The small crowd turned to face a shy looking Mina. "Well, I'd just like to point out the fact that… I was RIGHT. They DID elope. Come on, people, who called it? You best pay up, Lita!"

Growling, Raye began to ball her fists up, when a loud squeal rose up from the entrance.

"WE'RE HERE!"

In a flash, all heads had turned to see a very tired couple, messy, sweaty, and breathing hard in the doorway.

"Where have you BEEN!" Raye screeched, jumping to her feet to stand in front of them and proceed to yell at Serena and Darien at the top of her lungs. After only a moment, Lita clasped her hand over Raye's mouth.

"Thank goodness you're both here. I almost had to pay ten bucks to Mina. Do you realize what that would do to my savings?"

Pushing her way in, Mina stood in front of the couple. "Serena Tsukino- Almost-Chiba, WHAT have you done to your hair! For goodness sakes, woman, this will not do! Now come on, get yourself fixed up, we're trying to hold a wedding here!" Grabbing onto Serena's wrist, Mina began pulling the bedraggled girl to the hallway on the side of the church that lead up to the small dressing room.

"Now you hold it right there just a corn-shucking minute!" screeched Raye, turning to watch the two escaping from her clutches. "I'm not done venting just yet!"

"Relax, Raye," Amy said, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You go tell the guests that things will be starting shortly, we'll take care of everything else."

Raye glared for a minute, before letting her shoulders droop. Heaving a sigh, she turned on her heels to walk into the church, ready to deliver the news.

Sighing, Amy and Lita turned to face Darien, ruffled and unsteadily trying to catch his breath. "The… cake… is in the… the taxi…" he managed, his hand clasped to his shirt. "For god's sake, TELL me my tux is here!"

Amy and Lita exchanged glances, before turning to him and shrugging. "Looks like Tux-Boy's gonna need one more appearance."

Groaning, Darien rolled his eyes. "Fine, where do I change?"

They pointed in the direction of the other small change room, and he inhaled a deep breath, before trudging down the hall they led him in. Amy and Lita remained motionless for a minute, before Amy sighed, tucking a lock of blue hair behind her ear. "I suppose I'll go get the cake."

"And I'll go see how Serena and Mina are doing."

Nodding, they turned to go their separate directions. 

...

"Now I'm thinking blue eyeliner… or maybe black? No, that'd be too dark… What do you think Serena? Oh, why am I asking you, you don't know anything about makeup…"

"Knock, knock, can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure Lita!"

Lita walked in on Mina hovering over Serena in a small desk chair, Already dressed in a flowing white gown. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail with a few strands to frame her face.

"Dang girl, you work fast."

"I know, now help me decide on makeup."

"Hello, can we speed it up in here!" yelled a new voice, peering in from behind Lita. Raye entered the room, her arms folded. "The people are getting just a TAD impatient out there!"

"Sorry Raye, but it isn't exactly easy to turn Cinderella into a beauty queen when she hasn't showered in nearly 2 days!"

"What! Where were you all this time?"

"Sorry, Raye, Darien and I were a bit busy…"

"Doing what, I wonder…" mumbled Lita.

"Fine, whatever, just hurry it up!"

"I think I'm done!" squealed Mina, placing the last bits of lipstick on Serena. "Now we just need the veil, and…"

Grabbed by her two arms, Serena was hoisted out of the chair and a sheer lace veil was thrown onto her head. Yawning, she rubbed at her eyes, only to have her hand grabbed away and slapped gently. "Don't do that, you'll smear the makeup! For goodness sakes, didn't you get ANY sleep last night?"

Lita snickered at this comment, only to be roughly jabbed in the side by a less than amused Raye.

"How are things going in here?" whispered Amy, walking in quietly.

"Alright, she's almost ready."

"No, she IS ready!" Mina said proudly, tugging out some of the wrinkles on the veil, before latching onto Serena's arm to drag her to the door.

"WAIT! I'm not ready!" she screamed suddenly, her arms reaching out to the doorframe to keep from being pushed outside. Everyone froze to stare at the evidently frightened bride.

"Oh no… Serena, this is NOT the time to be having wedding day jitters!"

"No, no, it's not that!"

"Then what!" they yelled simultaneously, even Amy rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"That… that tradition thing!"

"What tradition thing?"

"You know… it's um… er… you know! That thing they always do!"

The girls traded confused glances as Serena groaned, letting her head drop to her chest.

"One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish!"

Lita sighed. "That settles it. I also knew the girl would someday go loony."

"I am NOT insane! Come on, you must know what I'm talking about!"

"You mean…" began Amy, "something old, something new…"

"Something borrowed, something blue?" finished Mina.

"Yeah! Yeah, that!"

"Tell me she's joking," muttered Raye, slapping her forehead.

"I can't go out otherwise, please don't make me!" pleaded Serena.

"Fine, fine! First, we need something old."

The five girls stood for a moment, looking around the small room.

"Hey!" squealed Lita suddenly, diving for her purse. "How about this!" From inside, she pulled out a white paper plate with an unknown food on top wrapped in cellophane.

"And just WHAT is THAT?"

"Fruit cake from last Christmas!" she said, quite proudly.

Slowly, Serena let go of the doorframe to walk into the room toward Lita. Pausing, she looked down at the cake, taking a moment to poke at the single slice of cake.

"Lita?"

"Yes?"

"That is disgusting."

"Really? You think? I actually find it quite tasty…"

"Eeew!"

"Okay, okay, never mind!" interrupted Mina. "Great idea, Lita, but how on Earth is she going to wear FRUIT CAKE? Here, how about these instead?" Reaching into a duffel bag behind the desk, she held up a pair of muddy, beaten up, smelly tennis shoes.

"Hey! Those are my running shoes!" screeched Lita.

"Well, duh, do you actually think I would wear these hideous things?" Mina commented, plugging her nose.

Serena gulped, before nodding vivaciously. "Okay, fine, those will work!" Sitting down in the small chair she began to undo her own shoes.

"Great, now for something new!" cheered on Raye.

"Well… how about…"

"Hm… we could use…"

"Say… maybe…"

"Ha, that one's easy!" twittered Amy, smiling proudly. "Raye, I could have sworn you just got a pair of new earrings a bit ago…"

Raye stared at Amy for a moment, before backing away and clasping her hands over her ears. "Oh no you don't! I paid good money for these just so that I could wear them today! There's no way I'm handing them over to her!"

"Oh, come ON Raye! Do you want to get this show on the road, or what?"

"Yeah, hand 'em over Raye!"

"No way, uh-uh, it's NOT gonna happen!" she screeched, closing her eyes tightly.

"Would you stop being such a baby!"

"LA LA LA LA LA LA LA! I can't hear you! I can't hear you!"

Rolling their eyes, the girls turned away. "Well, on second thought, how about…"

"We tackle her?"

"Sounds good to me."

Turning, Mina, Lita, and Amy each launched themselves at Raye, Lita grabbing onto her hands and holding them behind her back, Mina holding her head still, and Amy carefully removing the earrings as Raye screamed her dislike of the turn of events. Finally, they released her and handed the small drop earrings to Serena who put them on hesitantly. Growling, Raye scrunched herself into a corner.

"This is not fair. I do so much for you and look how I'm treated."

"To continue!" Amy stated, holding up a finger in determination. "Next on the list… something borrowed!"

Another moment of silence followed as they stared at each other.

Serena, finished with the tennis shoes and earrings, stood next to the others silently, looking at their dresses to see what would work with her outfit.

"Here."

"Eep!" Serena screeched, jumping back slightly as Mina held up a small pink piece of… something… "What is that!"

"Gum."

Serena stared silently as Mina continued to hold the chewed on bubble gum in her face.

"Yuck! Mina, that's gross!"

"Geez, Sere, just take the gum, it's not gonna kill you!" reprimanded Amy. "We are wasting time!"

"And I don't have cooties," pouted Mina, thrusting the piece a bit further into Serena's face.

The bride hesitated, staring at the alien food as if it would jump up and attack her. "Wh… what flavor is it?"

"Watermelon."

Biting her lip, she slowly lifted her hand up, and Mina dropped the piece into her palm. Serena flinched, grimacing, before slowly placing it into her mouth. After a silent moment, she began to chew, her cheeks sticking out to the side, before she looked at Mina and forced a small smile.

"Thanks."

"Which leaves…" said Raye, finally standing up to rejoin the group, though obviously still pouting angrily, "something blue."

Instantaneously, four heads turned to an innocent, oblivious Amy.

She looked between their expectant faces for a minute, before her eyes went wide and she held up her hands, backing away. "You… you don't mean…"

"I'll get the scissors." "No! You can't use my HAIR! Are you crazy! How will she wear it anyway? Come on, guys, it's short enough as it is!"

"We'll just take a little snippet, no one will notice!"

"But… but…"

SNIP

"Ay!" Swirling around, Amy stared at a grinning Lita as she held up a small lock of blue hair. Her jaw fell.

"Thanks, Ames, you're so much help."

Handing the hair to Mina, the girls watched as she tied a small ribbon around it before tying it into the bouquet. "There, that's everything!"

"Whew, it's about time! Now let's get moving!"

Quickly, the girls tramped out, leaving a motionless Amy behind them, her hand running over the back of her head.

...

Darien folded his hands in front of his stomach, before momentarily crossing them over his chest, then deciding to shove them into his pockets.

"Would you relax?"

"What is taking her so long?"

"Oh, I'm sure they're just primping. You know girls."

Darien grunted in response, turning to look at Andrew. "Weren't you at all nervous on your wedding day?"

Andrew smiled, raising his eyes to meet his best friend's. "You were there, what do you think?"

Chuckling, Darien lowered his gaze. "Oh yeah. Never seen one man drink so much champagne."

"Oh, quiet you."

A hush settled over the crowd as organ music blasted through the pipes in the corner of the church. Darien stiffened, his blue eyes locking onto the doors at the other end of the aisle.

"It's about time," whispered Rita from the front row.

The oak doors swung open, and in walked Amy and Raye, arm in arm. They began to stroll down the aisle slowly slowly, left foot - together - right foot - together, before Raye let out an anguished groan and began dragging Amy down the aisle.

"Can we just hurry this thing up? My ice swans are probably melted by now!" she growled, a little too loudly. Finally, they stopped at the altar, a shaky Amy taking her place behind Raye. Next, Mina and Lita began walking together, their arms locked as one foot stepped before the other.

The music continued, playing melodiously. Darien straightened his tuxedo, tugging at the ends of his bow tie. Mina blew a kiss to some friend - or miscellaneous cute guy - in the audience. Lita waved, repeating in her mind 'elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist…' Before the beautiful moment was ruined with Raye's booming,

"Would you pick up the pace a little, you're walking as fast as my GRANDPA!"

They ignored the fact that her grandpa could MOVE when he wanted to, and scuttled up the rest of the aisle.

The music changed. The crowd stood.

From behind the panel of the great oak doors walked a slim figure covered in white. She stood as the centerpiece of attention for a moment, her eyes glancing at her husband-to-be through the sheer veil, before inhaling a deep breath. Picking up her skirt, Serena ran up the aisle, one hand clutching the rose bouquet, the other wrapped around a handful of her dress. Finally reaching the front of the room, she turned to face a stunned audience.

"Okay, I just want to thank you all for coming, and I'm sorry we're late, but we have cake and ice cream waiting, so LET'S GET MARRIED!" Dancing happily, she turned to face a shocked Darien, bouncing up and down a few times.

"Sugar Lips? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yup, yup, sure am!"

"Eh… Lita didn't try to feed you anything weird did she? I mean, no six month old fruit cake or anything, right?"

"Huh?" Serena paused, her feet finally stilling on the carpet, before blushing and lowering her face. "I think it's the shoes." Lifting up her skirt, she showed the dirty, stinky tennis shoes to her groom.

Darien gulped, hesitating, before nodding his head. "Oh… okay. Well then, let's get started!"

The crowd seated themselves as the priest began flipping through his books.

"Alright, then… hm…" He cleared his throat, placing his finger on the page inside the book. "We are gathered here today to pay our respects to our dear deceased friend… um… what was the name again?"

Darien frowned. "This is a wedding, not a funeral."

The priest stared blankly, not understanding for a moment, before smiling. "Ah well, they all start out the same." Clearing his throat again, he continued, "We are gathered here today to unite Mr…"

"Darien Chiba."

"Darien Chiba with Ms…"

"Serena Tsukino."

"Serena Tsukino in holy matrimony. If there is any reason why these two should not be married, speak now or forever…"

"Hold your peace, yeah, yeah, we know, no one complains, come ON Father, let's pick up the pace a bit!"

Darien looked from Raye to Serena. "Is she wearing those shoes too?"

A tad startled, the priest continued, "Since there are no objections, we'll continue. I see that you wish to state your own vows? You may do so at this time."

The couple sighed, turning to face each other. Gulping, Serena handed the bouquet to Raye behind her, and then smiled up at her husband, their hands grasping onto each other.

"Sweetie..." Darien began, looking into the pale white veil.

He opened and shut his mouth a few times, before frowning. "Can you take that veil off?"

Giggling, she reached up to pull the sheer cover off of her face. Darien smiled and took her frail hands into his again.

"Sweetheart," he started again, inhaling deeply. "I remember the first time we met, when you threw that awful test paper at me and then we got into a big fight. And then how you stomped away, all mad because I made fun of your hairstyle and grades. But more than anything that happened that day, I remember one small moment, that was so brief I didn't realize it had even happened until nearly a week later when I saw you again in the arcade. But that day, the first day that we met, when you were glaring up at me, I saw a tiny spark of something deeper, some kind of recognition, and I felt it too. It was like my entire body was telling me how wrong this was, that we should be holding each other, not arguing. But I ignored it for as long as I could.

"And then… one day there was a terrible storm and while I was out walking, I found a delicate, frail angel on the sidewalk. And you looked up at me and though you looked so sad, it was like a message from heaven had just descended on me - that it was my job to take care of you. And so I picked you up, scared and shaking, and took you to my apartment… and we got stuck in the elevator." They both chuckled a little in remembrance. "And we were in there for nearly four hours before we could escape, and as treacherous as they might have been in the beginning, I have to admit that those four hours were the first of my entire life.

"Being with you helped me to realize how dull my surroundings were in comparison to you. And even though everyone told me it wouldn't work because of how much younger you were and how reserved I was, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would die and waste away if I never got to tell you about all the feelings I harbored inside. If I could never let you know that I think you are perfect, the way you imitate your teacher when she's angry, the way you laugh at me when I say something stupid, the way you blush when I kiss your hand and try my best to treat you like a gentleman. Every little thing about you is perfect, and for the rest of my life I will be content to say that though I could never be good enough for you, no matter how hard I try to make you happy, you still chose me. To live your life with me, spend all of your tiny butterfly kisses on me, someday grow old with me… Knowing that the delicate, frail angel who's afraid of storms still tries to calm the endless storm inside of my heart proves to me that someone, somewhere, thought I was doing something right, to give me such a gift as the love of my life… for a wife. Serena Tsukino, I love you. And I will spend every tiny moment showing you that those four hours when we got stuck in an elevator - weren't a tragedy, but a beginning."

The crowd cooed as Serena blinked, trying desperately to rid herself of a few tears, to no avail. "I love you, too…" she whispered, her eyes glimmering with happiness, smiling up at Darien.

"Ms. Tsukino, you may say your vows now," said the priest, wiping away a tear.

Serena inhaled deeply, chewing on her lip. "Well, I… I'm not very poetic. And I'm not a writer. But… but people always tell me what a romantic I am, and when I say things that only seem to make sense in my head, everyone tells me that though it seemed pointless, it still had a loving undertone. I'm not really sure how to take that, but… I'm going to base my vows on that. So, Love," She sighed, a smile creasing her lips.

"Five years ago, two of the best nights of my life took place. One night, during a god-awful storm, I was taken into the arms of a knight in shining armor and whisked away to a castle, then stuck in an elevator. But it wasn't a bad thing in the end. Because even if it was a bit cramped, and the music was terrible in the beginning, that night I realized just what the perfect man would act like. You see, before that night I'd thought that the perfect man would… have nice hair, and always wear the most fashionable clothes, and be able to ballroom dance. But that night I realized that instead, he would let me screw up his hair as much as I like, he would wear the ugliest jackets, as long as they were warm and heavy, and he could tango in a small six by eight foot space." She giggled, watching Darien's lips tweak upward.

"Then, two nights later, the second best night of my life happened. You see, all that day I had been thinking that you weren't in love with me after all. I believed that I was the only one with those strange feelings. But… but you came to my balcony, like some medieval lover. At first you just yelled at me, and I yelled back, but after awhile you got this strange, haunted look in your eye, and the next thing I knew… you were willingly giving me my first kiss. Now, when I was really little I had had all these dreams about the perfect kiss, what it would feel like, taste like… but you put every one of those dreams to shame. It was more wonderful than I ever would have imagined… like chocolate melting in my mouth, only it was sweeter than chocolate. And I wasn't sure what to do, or what I was doing, but that night, I remember you just holding me underneath the stars. It was all a blur and nothing really made sense to me at the time, how fast my emotions were swimming, how quickly you had gone from teasing me to telling me I was beautiful and sweet… but nothing I felt, not a single thing, was bad.

"Instead, you were a complete answer to my prayers, and every time you kiss me now I have the exact same sensation. This undying feeling that… that you always have been and always will be the only one for me. It's been proven many times in more ways than one. And now… after everything we've been through, I am so happy that you're mine, that we'll be together forever, just like in all the movies. Darien, I love you. And I cannot wait to become Mrs. Darien Chiba."

Darien reached up a finger to trace her jawbone as she finished, before pressing away one of the crystalline tears from her cheek.

"With the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife," stated the priest through watery eyes. "You may now… kiss your bride."

They smiled at each other momentarily, relieved, happy gazes spreading over their stares. Slowly, Darien placed his hands on either side of her face, stroking her cheeks gently. She smiled, raising her expectant face. Licking his lips, Darien lowered his face, brushing their noses together. Serena let her body go limp as his warm, caressing lips brushed over hers once, before lowering down into her completely. His arms tied around her waist, bending her back gently, as their first kiss as husband and wife tempted their lips. In the background, the audience cheered, blocking out Serena's sigh of happiness.

'So this is what I was waiting for…' she thought peacefully, her hands tying around the tuxedo jacket as his warm lips melted against hers. She gasped as his tongue slipped through the kiss, before a quiet moan engulfed her and the world faded away.

Suddenly, Darien stiffened, his breath catching, then abruptly he pulled away, gasping and choking for breath. Serena squealed, her eyes wide as she stood back to look at him. His face turned a few different shades of pink, his hands grasping at his throat. "Sugar Plum?" she called worriedly, reaching forward to lay a hand on his shoulders. Andrew stood behind him, rubbing at his chin.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say he was choking…"

"Choking? Well… make him stop!"

After a moment of silence, Andrew nodded sternly. "Yes, ma'am!" Reaching a hand over his shoulder, he thrusted his palm down on Darien's back, allowing a pink, chewed, glistening piece of bubble gum to fly up from his esophagus, landing in Serena's grandmother's white curly hair. The elderly woman screeched, trying desperately to shake it off with the desperate help of her middle-aged daughter.

Gagging slightly, Darien inhaled a few unsteady breaths, before turning to his worried wife who stood chewing on her nails.

"A… are you okay?" she finally managed, stepping forward cautiously.

Rolling his eyes, Darien let his shoulders slump. "Other than the fact I'm now married to a walking disaster? I'm great. Besides, you are MY walking disaster… legally now…" Instantly, he wrapped his arms around her waist, before freezing and staring at her speculatively. "Is there anything in your mouth?"

Serena stood with her lips slightly parted, before shaking her head slowly. "No…"

"Good." Taking a deep breath, Darien bent his head down to finish their first kiss as husband and wife. 

...

"Well, well, well, Serena Tsukino, I see you don't only fall asleep in my class!"

Groggily, Serena opened her eyes, groaning in anger. 'She always ruins the best part…' Looking up, Serena saw a big blur with red hair hovering over her. Yawning, she wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry, Miss Haruna, could you repeat the question?" Then she realized that something felt different. She wasn't sitting at a desk, she was sitting… on a lap! Snapping to attention, she looked up to see a sleeping Darien above her.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" she screeched, backing away in vain.

Darien's eyes flew open to see two large blue eyes staring him directly in the face. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!"

"Aaaaaahhhh!"

"Aaaaaaahh!"

"Serena Tsukino, quit that wailing or I'll give you detention for a week!"

Silence fell over the two as Serena looked up to see her teacher standing before them, her arms crossed over her chest in disappointment. "Sorry, Miss Haruna."

"Mr. Chiba?"

The two looked over Haruna's shoulder to see a tall man with brown hair standing just behind her. Darien gulped at the sight of his boss.

"Oh… uh… good morning, Mr. Nihao."

"Hardly. It's eleven o'clock p.m. Just WHAT do you think you are doing in the elevator at this time of night?"

"Um…" Darien looked down on Serena. "Sleeping?"

Mr. Nihao rolled his eyes. "I can see that, Darien! Might you explain WHY!"

"Well… you know, it's a long, boring story…"

"There was this storm and…"

"Then we came here…"

"And got stuck in the elevator…"

"But then there was this speaker…"

"And Andrew, too…"

"But we couldn't do anything, so…"

"We just…"

"Slept."

"Yup, we just slept."

Darien and Serena looked up, attempting to smile innocently.

Miss Haruna rolled her eyes. "Serena, again, you answer my question without any background information. You must work on that or it'll never get you through college!"

Serena bowed her head. "Sorry, Miss Haruna."

Darien snickered above her. She turned and smacked him hard in the shoulder.

"I don't think you should be laughing too hard, Mr. Chiba. This is certainly what I'd call robbing the cradle."

Darien's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. His breath caught and with lightning speeds, he had pushed Serena off his lap and now attempted to stand up on his own feet. He didn't notice his one hand trapped between her back and his own jacket.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahh!"

Serena screamed to match his own as he came toppling down on top of her. Throwing her onto her back in the center of the elevator. The next thing either knew, Darien's lips had managed to connect with hers, one hand still wrapped around her waist.

Mr. Nihao raised an amused eyebrow. "Can't you wait a little longer?"

"Yes, get a room," added Haruna. "Serena you are ruining the very little bit of respect I had left for you. What would your father think if he knew what you were doing?"

Darien pried himself off the girl, trying to untangle his arm from he jacket. Finally, he managed to pull his arm away from her, jumping to his feet without bothering to help her up as she too forced herself to stand. Hesitantly, Serena bowed to her teacher. "Sorry again, Miss Haruna. Um… I'll be going now."

"Bye Meatball Head," Darien choked out, trying to straighten his wrinkled shirt and jeans.

"I'll see you on Monday, Serena," Haruna called after her as the whirlwind disappeared out the door.

Haruna and Mr. Nihao turned to Darien, who was blushing furiously. "It was nice running into you, Darien."

"Uh… yes, likewise, sir."

"Unlikely," chuckled the man. Placing his arm around his date, he led her into the elevator. Darien walked out of it calmly.

"Have a nice night," he replied, nodding his head toward them.

"Same to you, but, don't you live here, Mr. Chiba?"

He cleared his throat. "Um… I think… I need to get some fresh air for a little while."

"Fine, fine. Though the storm is still going full blast out there. But I guess I'll see you at work then."

"Yes… good night."

Darien walked away beet red as the elevator doors closed. Walking silently through the apartment lobby, he could see the blackness outside looming over the door. He paused momentarily, biting his lip as he watched pellets of rain hit the sliding glass doors loudly before mixing together and sliding down to the sidewalk outside. It was thunderously loud. Evidently the storm hadn't ceased at all during the many hours he and Serena had been in there. Shaking his head, he wondered what on earth had just happened. Why hadn't they been woken up once the elevator started working again? And where was Andrew? He had expected him to wait in the lobby until he and Serena could escape.

Sighing, he let his shoulders droop drastically. He reached up to run a hand through his hair, feeling it tightly knotted, though the weight had let his locks droop down overtime, no longer sticking up like spikes. Rolling his eyes, he briefly acknowledged how perfect a warm shower would be at that moment. But his mind quickly turned to another seemingly perfect thought.

Where had Serena gone so suddenly? Just… up and ran, as if she didn't even notice the storm. Maybe she had been so overcome with embarrassment, she didn't really notice it. But then… she would be stuck out there right now. His brow furrowed. She would be terrified.

Closing his eyes, his head sank down. He must have looked very comedic at that moment. His hair messed, a wet spot on the front of his shirt that hadn't yet dried due to Serena being snuggled so close to him. His coat was gone, luckily. He was glad that she still had that. And here he was in the middle of his lobby staring into a hideous storm, dreaming of a scared little girl, that overnight had become not-so-little.

He reached out his fingers to lightly touch the window. Even standing a foot from the door, his warm breath was beginning to cling to the glass in smoky gasps. His memory reminded him of when he had found her out there. All shaking and bundled up into a small ball on the sidewalk, hunched over on her knees, her arms tightly around her waist. Then she had turned and looked up at him, so hopeful that she could be saved, even by a man like him. And when she launched herself into his arms, trembling, sobbing, he had made promises.

"Come on, let's get you upstairs for some hot chocolate."

Sighing, he shook his head. Then his teeth clamped down on his lip, a bit tiredly, but more frightened. She was still out there alone. Gulping, with doubts and hesitation, he walked over slightly to trigger the automatic motion sensors, and the doors swung open. He walked into the storm, ducking as the rain hit him painfully. After a moment of coughing, he held his hands up to his lips.

"Serena!" he screamed. His voice was barely heard even to himself.

Walking a little ways, he continued to call for her, looking in every small alleyway he could, yelling her name. "SERENA!" Before he knew it, he was running through the streets, not knowing quite where he was going, other than he had a pulling sensation somewhere in his chest.

"Serena! Where are you?"

"Darien?"

The small, high-pitched voice made him freeze, and he turned around to see a small girl standing before him, her hand grasping onto the front of the jacket, holding it tightly around her stomach. Her hair was dampened down, the braided crown around her head already beginning to fall to the side, and the small rose in her fist just barely peaked out from underneath the green coat.

His breath caught as a tiny smile glimmered in his eyes. Hesitantly, he stepped toward her.

"Did… I ever tell you…" she began, her voice small as her frightened eyes read into his, "how much I hate storms?"

His eyes darted between her gaze, and slowly, his grin crawled onto his lips. "Yeah… that sounds vaguely familiar," he joked, almost being forced to yell over the pounding of the storm as he began walking close to hover over her frail body. She didn't move.

"Ya know… I have some hot chocolate in my apartment. It's on the twelfth floor, but we can always take the stairs if you want."

It wasn't long before her smile matched his and she nodded proudly. "That sounds delightful!"

Grinning, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and started to lead her off in the direction of his apartment.

"I had a dream while we were asleep," said Serena shyly after they had walked about a block.

"Yeah? What about?"

She was silent for a moment as her eyes watched the rain fall innocently into puddles on the black street. Then, she stated quite seriously, "I don't quite remember. But… I know that you were in it. And… it was a really good dream." There was a moment of silence, and she buried herself further into his embrace. Below her breath, she mumbled, "Thanks for that… Muffin."

... In the middle of a dark, silent street in Tokyo, a small form walked quietly down the sidewalk, skipping momentarily, before hopping into a black mud puddle. Giggling, the small girl ran across the street, merrily dancing. Today was a good day, and despite the storm, she was happy.

Then the figure paused, seeing a black image lying on the sidewalk. Approaching it slowly, she could see a silver, metal handle sparkling and glimmering beneath the pale orange streetlights that hung overhead. She listed her head to the side, walking closer, before bending to pick it up. She held the handle in her palm, turning it over a couple times, before pushing up on the small latch and laughing loudly as a large umbrella, nearly twice her size, exploded above her. Giggling louder still, she held it above her head, peering at the lonely street before her from beneath the almost warm shelter. Silently, she wondered who had dropped such a nice umbrella.

Shrugging, she patted one of the heart-shaped balls on top of her head, stringing a finger through the drenched curl behind her ear. Lifting blue eyes up to the overcast sky, she thanked the stars for the protection in the only way she knew how.

"Chibi Chibi!"

Giggling, she continued to skip and dance through the stormy night. 

...

The End.


End file.
